BLAINE, Minn. – For the second consecutive night the Gustavus men’s hockey team scored a late-game goal, this time to send it into overtime. But unlike last night’s game winner, the Gusties tied 3-3 Saturday in a shootout to last season’s MIAC Playoff champion Hamline at the MIAC Showcase.
Hamline started the scoring at the 13:45 mark in the first period. With three minutes left in the first, Gustavus netted its first goal of the night as Sam Majka (Jr., Wayzata, Minn.) scored on an assist from Alex Koopmeiners (Jr., St. Cloud, Minn.) and Tim Donohue (So., Bloomington, Minn.). It looked as if the two teams were headed into the first intermission tied 1-1, but the Pipers took a 2-1 lead with just two seconds left in the first on a power play goal.
Hamline then increased its lead to 3-1 four minutes into the second period. Nearly 10 minutes later, the Gusties made it a one-goal game with a score by Evan Erickson (Fy., Woodbury, Minn.), assisted by Drew Aspinwall (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.).
In the third period, the Gusties and Pipers skated for more than 18 minutes without finding the back of the net, but with a power play opportunity with just 1:53 left in the game, it took just six seconds for Jake Bushey (So., Duluth, Minn.) to score the equalizer on an assist from Aspinwall and Koopmeiners.
Each team took two shots in the overtime period, but were unable to score and the game was sent to a shootout. Hamline scored on its first opportunity in the shootout, while the Gusties went 0-3.
Chris Amsden (Fy., St. Peter, Minn.) posted a tie in his first collegiate start. Amsden made 26 saves after 65 minutes in net.
Gustavus outshot Hamline in each period for a total advantage of 41-29. The Gusties also won the faceoff battle 40-38. On the power play, Gustavus had seven opportunities with 11 shots and one goal, while Hamline had six opportunities with 11 shots and one goal as well.
Gustavus moves to 1-0-1 overall and next travels to UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 6.