The Gustavus student-body came out in full force for last night's opening round playoff game against St. Olaf. Photo courtesy of Sport PiX.
St. Peter, Minn. – After a 3-2 victory over St. Olaf College in the opening round of the MIAC Playoffs last night in at Don Roberts Ice Rink, the Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team has a quarterfinal round date with Co-MIAC Champion St. Thomas tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn.
Live video for tonight’s game will be available through the Minnesota Sports Broadcast Network.
The Matchup
– St. Thomas swept Gustavus in the regular season, winning 6-0 in St. Peter and 2-1 in Mendota Heights.
– Gustavus is 5-12-1 all-time against St. Thomas in the MIAC Tournament. The two clubs last met in the MIAC Playoffs on March 3, 2010 in the MIAC Championship. St. Thomas won that game 2-1 in overtime on a goal by Chris Hickey. Gustavus got the Tommies back a week later with a 3-1 win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
– Gustavus is 9-1-2 since Christmas and are currently riding a seven-game winning-streak.
From Last Night
– Gustavus scored the first goal of the game for the 15th time this season last night against the Oles. The Gusties are 13-2-1 when scoring the first goal.
– Gustavus is now 13-0-1 when scoring three or more goals this season.
– Jack Walsh (So., Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Tyler Lapic (So., New Prage, Minn.) enter tonight’s game on a seven-game point-streak. Walsh has seven goals and two assists inside the streak, while Lapic has three goals and six assists.
– Senior goaltender Tyler Venne (New Hope, Minn.) picked up his seventh straight win in a 29-save performance last night. He is allowing an average of 1.71 goals within the run.
– Zach May’s (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) goal against St. Olaf was his first game-winner of the season. It was also May’s first goal since Nov. 3 against St. Norbert.
– With the win first round win over the Oles, Gustavus’s senior class improved to 7-1-0 in playoff games held at Don Roberts Ice Rink.
– Gustavus’s 25 shots in the first period last night was a season-high for any period this season. The Gusties also allowed just three shots in the first period, which is the second-lowest shots allowed total this year.