St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team went into Saturday’s night’s game in desperate need of points as it faced a potential sweep against an Augsburg program that hasn’t swept the Gusties since the 2002-03 season. Now at the halfway point of the conference season, the Gusties used a strong second period and a stellar goaltending effort by John McLean (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) to come away with a 3-0 win and earn three points in the conference standings with a split. Gustavus improves to 5-6-6 overall and 2-2-4 in the MIAC, while Augsburg drops to 7-8-0 overall and 4-2-0 in the MIAC.
After having to play catchup throughout the entire series-opener on Friday night, Gustavus was able to get on the scoreboard first following a scoreless opening 20 minutes. With possession of the puck at Augsburg’s goal line, Darren Lapic (Jr., New Prague, Minn.) assured Gustavus the early lead it was seeking when his shot from a tight angle went off the back of goaltender Fredrik Melander and into the net.
Less than a minute after Darren’s goal, which came at the 16:03 mark, Tyler Lapic (Sr., New Preague, Minn.) refused to be upstaged by his younger brother. Taking advantage of a rebound in the front of the crease, Tyler chipped the puck over the shoulder of Melander to give Gustavus a 2-0 lead at 16:53.
Conor Deal (Fr., Anchorage, Alaska) brought the score to a final at 3-0 with the empty-netter at the 19:26 mark. Deal has scored a goal in his last two games and now has eight points (5G, 3A) over the last five.
John McLean stood tall against all eight shots he faced in the third period to secure his second shutout of the season. McLean made a total of 26 saves in the game and has now recorded a shutout in his last two starts at Don Roberts Ice Rink. In his last two home games, McLean has turned away and all 65 shots on goal. The junior is now 2-2-1 on the season and has dropped his goals against average to 1.78 and raised his save percentage to .933.
Fredrik Melander suffered the loss and drops to 5-5-0 after allowing the two goals prior to the empty-netter.
Both teams had two chances on the power play and failed to convert. The Gusties finished with a 32-26 shot advantage.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team will get back to work next weekend when it takes on Saint Mary’s University in a home-and-home series. The weekend will begin on Friday, Jan. 23 when the Gusties travel to Winona for a 7:00 p.m. game. The series-finale will take place in St. Peter on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 7:05 p.m.