After suffering its worst beating since Feb. 12, 2000 (L 8-0 to Concordia) on Friday night, the Gustavus men’s hockey team was able to re-group and bounce back with a 3-1 victory on Saturday afternoon against the Cobbers in Moorhead, Minn. After Concordia netted the opening goal of the game less than a minute in, Gustavus responded with three unanswered goals in the first and second periods to salvage a series split with the second place Cobbers.
Gustavus now has 14 points with a MIAC mark of 6-4-2 (12-7-2 overall), while Concordia has 16 points with a MIAC record of 6-4-4 (10-9-4 overall). The win by Gustavus snapped Concordia’s six-game unbeaten streak in which they had gone 5-0-1.
Concordia’s Erick Galt put the Cobbers on top 1-0 win an unassisted goal just :32 seconds into the contest. Gustavus responded with the equalizer three minutes later when Ryan Johnson scored on assists coming from Ross Ring-Jarvi and Zach May. It was Ryan Johnson’s seventh goal of the season.
Gustavus outshot the Cobbers 10-to-3 in the first period, as goaltender Josh Swartout was only called upon to make two saves in the period. The Gusties were 0-for-4 on the power play with two shots in the frame.
Ross Ring-Jarvi notched the game-winning goal, his second game-winner of the season, at the 7:54 mark of the second period. Ring-Jarvi was unassisted on the goal, as he now has recorded a team-high eight goals on the year.
Mark Jackson scored his first goal of the season at 14:31 of the second period on an assist from Joey Olson to put Gustavus up 3-1. Swartout was put to the test in the second period, turning away all 12 Cobber shots in the period.
The Gustavus penalty killers were called upon to step up late in the game and they responded in a big way, killing four Cobber power plays in the third period and holding them to just four shots. Both squads would finish the game 0-for-7 with the man advantage.
Swartout got back on track by allowing just one Cobber goal and making 21 saves on the afternoon. He improves to 8-6-2 on the season and currently holds a goals against average of 2.59 and save percentage of .903. Kelly Andrew suffered the loss in a 24 save effort. He drops to 9-5-3 on the season.
The Gusties held the advantage in both shots (27-22) and faceoffs (30-27) in the game.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team will gear up for one of its biggest series of the season as they will take on the MIAC leader in eighth-ranked Hamline next weekend. Game one will take place Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:15 p.m. in St. Paul. Game two will take place on Saturday, Feb. 12 in St. Peter at 7:05 p.m.