Minneapolis – The Gustavus Adophus men’s hockey team scored three unanswered goals over the second and third periods en route to a 4-2 victory over Augsburg College on Saturday night at Ed Saugestad Rink. The Gusties earn the series sweep and another three points in the conference standings with the win, improving to 9-4-3 overall and 6-1-1 in the MIAC. Augsburg drops to 9-5-1 overall and 2-3-1 in the MIAC with the loss.
Gustavus wasted no time putting the puck in the back of the net. Just nine seconds into the contest, Tyler Lapic (Jr., New Prague, Minn.) netted the puck off assists from Corey Leivermann (Sr., North Mankato, Minn.) and Jared Docken (Fr., Northfield, Minn.).
Augsburg had an answer to Gustavus’s goal less than three minutes later when Erik Ordahl knotted the game at the 3:17 mark.
The Gustie scoring-spree began at the 5:14 point of the second period when Sam Smith (Jr., Vancouver, B.C.) and Lapic helped Leivermann score and give Gustavus a 2-1 lead.
Later in the period at the 17:00 mark, Alex Gallen (Sr., Hingham, Mass.) scored the eventual game-winning goal on the power play from Gustav Bengtson (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden) to put the Black and Gold on top 3-1. The Gusties carried a 3-1 lead into the third period after outshooting the Auggies 16-6 in the frame.
The surge of Gustavus goals came to an end at 4:08 of the third period when Andy Pearson (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.) hit the back of the net. Bengtson provided the first assist for the second time and Adam Smyth (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) was credited the second assist.
Augsburg’s Drew Allen brought the score to a final at 4-2 with a late goal at the 19:24 mark.
The Gusties recorded a total of 35 shots and went 1-for-6 on the power play. Augsburg tallied 25 shots and was blanked on its four power play opportunities.
Goaltender John McLean (So., Eagan, Minn.) earned the complete-game win to improve to 8-3-3 on the year. McLean made a total of 23 saves, 13 of which came in the third period alone.
Auggie goaltender John Bretzman suffered the loss after allowing four goals and making 31 saves.
The Gusties are now unbeaten in their last seven MIAC contests. Gustavus will be back in action next weekend when it faces Saint Mary’s University in a home-and-home series. The Three Crowns will face the Cardinals on Friday, Jan. 25 at 7:05 p.m. at Don Roberts Ice Rink and Saturday, Jan. 26 at 7:00 p.m. in Winona.