ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team dropped a 4-1 decision to St. Scholastica on Friday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink. The loss moves the Gusties to 1-8-2 overall, while the Saints improve to 5-5 overall.
Brandon Millen gave St. Scholastica and early 1-0 lead at the 3:31 mark on a deflected shot. The Saints then took a 2-0 lead with 2:18 remaining in the first period as Brett Radford put home a rebound and the visitors held a two-goal advantage at the first intermission.
The Gusties lit the lamp at the 2:27 mark of the second period on a power play goal by Jake Bushey (Jr., Duluth, Minn.). Bushey’s second goal of the season came from the left point as he snuck the puck into the lower right corner of the net, assisted by Jared Docken (Sr., Northfield, Minn.). St. Scholastica regained a two-goal lead with 4:38 left in the second and took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
The two squads skated back and forth for the majority of the third period and with time winding down, Gustavus was forced to pull its goalie for the extra attacker. St. Scholastica was able to take advantage of a turnover and scored an empty-netter with :16 seconds remaining to secure the 4-1 win.
Erik Johnson (Sr. Sauk Rapids, Minn.) took the loss after making 25 saves. The Saints outshot the Gusties 29-27. Gustavus was 1-2 on the power play, while St. Scholastica was 0-4 on the man-advantage.
Gustavus wraps up the 2016 calendar year tomorrow with a 7:05 p.m. non-conference game against No. 7-ranked UW-Eau Claire.