EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team suffered a 9-1 loss to No. 10-ranked UW-Eau Claire on Friday night to drop to 3-7-2 overall.
It only took 41 seconds into the game for the Blugolds to light the lamp as they took an early 1-0 lead. The Gusties answered at the 11:33 mark as Sam Majka (Jr., Wayzata, Minn.) found Alex Koopmeiners (Jr., St. Cloud, Minn.) to tie the score 1-1. The assist was Majka’s team-leading fourth on the year, while the goal was Koopmeiners’ team-leading third. Nearly five minutes later UW-Eau Claire scored to go-ahead goal, which proved to be the game-winner, and skated into the first intermission with a 2-1 advantage.
The final 40 minutes of the game was all UW-Eau Claire as it scored two power play goals in the second and five more goals in the third – two more on the man-advantage – for a convincing eight-goal victory.
The Blugolds outshot the Gusties 44-32 and scored on 5-of-7 power play opportunities. Gustavus won the faceoff battle 38-37, but went 0-for-4 on the man-advantage. The Gusties also spent a season-high 16 minutes in the penalty box on eight penalties.
Erik Johnson (Jr., Sauk Rapids, Minn.) took the loss in goal after making a career-high 35 saves.
Gustavus returns to Don Roberts Ice Rink tomorrow for a 7:05 p.m. game against UW-Stout. The Gusties and Blue Devils played to a 0-0 tie earlier this season on Nov. 7.