St. Could, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team got ahead early, let the lead slip, then came back to earn a 3-3 tie against Saint John’s University on Friday night at the National Hockey Center. Gustavus grabbed an early 2-0 first period lead before Saint John’s responded with three unanswered goals in the second and third periods to go up 3-2. Gustie defenseman Joe Olson (Jr., Warroad, Minn.) scored the game-tying goal in the 10th minute of the third period to earn the Black and Gold a point in the series opener.
Gustavus moves to 8-6-2 overall and 2-4-1 in the MIAC, while the Johnnies go to 6-6-2 overall and 1-3-1 in the MIAC.
It didn’t take long for Gustavus to get on the scoreboard in the first period. At the 2:39 mark, Andrew Peterson (Sr., Reno, Nev.) was the first Gustie defenseman to knock in a goal. Peterson’s goal, his second of the season, was scored on assists from Zach May (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) and Andy Pearson (So., Burnsville, Minn.).
The Gusties extended their lead to 2-0 at the 18:57 point of the first period when Blake Schammel (So., Red Wing, Minn.) scored his first goal of the season. Schammel put Gustavus up two goals on assists from Schyler Adams (So., New Prague, Minn.) and Olson.
Saint John’s would score its first goal in the second period when Jason Johnson cut the lead 2-1 at the 16:00 mark.
Johnson’s goal was the first of what would be three straight for the Johnnies. At 2:31 of the third period, Justin Hochsprung tied the game at 2-2, and at 4:27, Josh Gaughan gave Saint John’s the lead 3-2.
Six minutes after Gaughan’s go-ahead goal, Joey Olson tied the game on a feed from Darren Lapic (Fr., New Prague, Minn.) at the 10:17 point. The goal was Olson’s first of the season and first since Oct. 29, 2011.
Gustavus goaltender Tyler Venne (Sr., New Hope, Minn.) goes to 4-3-2 after allowing three goals and making 24 saves. Mitch Thompson got the tie for Saint John’s after allowing three goals and making 25 saves.
Special teams didn’t play a big factor in the contest as Gustavus went 0-for-1 on the power play and Saint John’s went 0-for-2. The Gusties held the shots advantage 28-27 by the final buzzer.
Gustavus and Saint John’s will finish the series tomorrow night at Don Roberts Ice Rink. Puck drop for Saturday’s series finale is set for 7:05 p.m.