Northfield, Minn. – For the first time since mid-November, the final outcome of an MIAC game involving the Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey did not result in a draw and an eventual shootout. Unfortunately for the Gusties, they were on the losing end on Saturday night against a St. Olaf College team hungry for a turnaround and in a position to gain significant ground in the conference standings.
Despite a 1-0 lead after the first period, St. Olaf exploded for four goals over the second and third periods en route to a 4-2 victory. With the loss, Gustavus sees its five-game conference unbeaten-streak come to an end and is now 3-4-5 overall and 1-1-4 in the MIAC. St. Olaf picks up five of the six possible points on the weekend and with the win improves to 3-8-1 overall and 2-3-1 in the MIAC.
The scoring-spree began in the second period when St. Olaf got goals from a pair of players who both hit the back of the net for the first time this season. Geoff Gieni tied the game at 1-1 at the 8:59 mark, and Patrick Sivets extended the lead to 2-1 at the 14:02 mark.
The Oles surged forward in the third period with two more goals to push their advantage to 4-1. Nick Marsh netted the eventual game-winner at 5:39, and Steven Sherman added an insurance goal on the power play at 15:10.
Gustavus’s scoring came from Sam Majka (So, Wayzata, Minn.) and Andy Person (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) on the front and back ends of St. Olaf’s scoring outburst. Majka scored his first collegiate goal from Tyler Lapic (Sr., New Prague, Minn.) and Sam Smith (Sr., Vancouver, B.C.) at the 17:54 mark of the first period. Andy Pearson brought the game to a final at the 17:06 mark of the third with a goal from Gavin Tufte (Jr., Blaine, Minn.).
Gustavus outshot St. Olaf 37-33, which included a 16-to-5 advantage in the final frame. The Gusties were blanked on all five of their power play chances, while the Oles finished 1-for-5 on the man-advantage.
Erik Johnson (So., Rice, Minn.) suffered the loss and drops to 3-3-5 after a 29-save effort. His counterpart, Steve Papciak, improves to 3-7-1 after making 35 saves.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team will have the holiday break to recover and get its legs back before heading into the second half of the season. The Gusties return to the ice on Jan. 2 when they play host to non-conference opponent Williams College at 5:05 p.m. at Don Roberts Ice Rink.