The Gustavus men’s hockey team battled St. Olaf to a 3-3 tie on Saturday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink. With the tie, the Gusties come away with three points over the weekend, moving to 4-1-1 overall and 1-0-1 in the MIAC. St. Olaf moves to 2-3-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the MIAC.
“I thought it was good game. St. Olaf played well, we improved as the game went on, and both goaltenders played great. Overall it was a good hockey game, and fittingly so we end up in a tie,” said Head Coach Brett Petersen.
The Gusties scored the opening goal of the contest for the sixth consecutive time this season when Junior Ross Ring-Jarvi beat goaltender Nick Krauss with a snap-shot from the left circle at the 12:36 mark of the opening period to put Gustavus up 1-0. Both squads were 0-for-2 on the power play in the opening frame, as St. Olaf out shot the Gusties 10-to-6.
St. Olaf’s Austin Wetmore tied the game at 1-1 with an unassisted goal at 6:01 of the second period. The Gusties responded less than two minutes later when Gustav Bengtson scored off a Ryan Johnson assist at the 7:55 mark.
Following the Bengtson goal, Gustavus was tagged with three straight penalties within a seven-minute time frame. Ole Isak Tranvik buried a goal on St. Olaf’s fourth power play of the period at the 16:23 mark, tying the game at 2-2. The Oles outshot Gustavus 16-to-11 within the frame.
“We got a little tired killing so many penalties in the second period and that zapped our strength a little bit, but we hung in there,” commented Petersen.
The two squads would trade penalties for the opening eight minutes of the third period, yet neither team could notch the go-ahead goal with a one-man advantage. St. Olaf’s Charlie Raskob found the back of the net at the 8:53 mark, putting the Oles up for the first time at 3-2. Gustavus’s Adam Smyth answered with the game-tying goal on the power play at the 11:36 mark. Smyth now leads the team in points with six (3G, 3A). Neither squad could net the game-winner in regulation, as Gustavus held the shot advantage in the third period at 10-to-5.
Solid defense and goaltending at both ends of the ice kept the score tied through the five minute overtime period. Gustavus finished the game with 31 shots, while St. Olaf recorded 32. The Gusties were 1-for-5 on the power play, as St. Olaf was 1-for-6. The Oles recorded 14 power play shots compared to Gustavus’s seven.
Gustavus goaltender Josh Swartout continued his solid play between the pipes. Swartout made 29 saves, 14 of which came during the penalty-ridden second period, in another complete game. He moves to 2-1-1 on the season and carries a .921 save percentage. Swartout’s counterpart Nick Krauss made 28 saves and is now 2-1-1 as well.
“To a man, we probably didn’t play our “A” game tonight. A lot of that has to do with how well St. Olaf played, but we still found a way to get a point out of it, and when you only play 16 league games that is a big deal,” said Petersen.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 19 and Saturday Nov. 20 for a weekend series with Bethel. Friday night’s contest will take place at 7:05 p.m. in Arden Hills, Minn., while Saturday’s game will take place at 7:05 p.m. at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter, Minn.