APPLETON, Wis. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team got an opening weekend sweep Saturday night as they defeated Lawrence 4-3. With the win the Gusties move to 2-0 overall, while the Vikings fall to 0-3.
“I am really pleased for our guys,” said Head Coach Brett Petersen. “They battled really hard, fought through some adversity late in the game, and found a way to win. We had another solid performance in goal tonight from Filip Grancarov (Fy., Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic) who played his first collegiate game.”
Lawrence struck first in the contest, just under three and a half minutes in to gain an early advantage. Gustavus was creating plenty of chances in the first period with 13 shots on net, but weren’t rewarded for their efforts until 15:27 in when Brendan Elliott (So., Marquette, Mich) put the Gusties on the board with assists going to Casey Rock (Sr., Savage) and J.P. Eykyn (Jr., Waseca). 26 seconds later, the Black and Gold took the lead, with Reid Brown (Sr., Superior, Colo.) and Tyler Ebner (So., La Crosse, Wis.) assisting a Brenden Payne (So., Plainfield, Ill.) goal that put Gustavus up 2-1.
The Gusties took their 2-1 lead into the second period and added to it early. Ebner was able to get his first goal of the season 5:13 into the second frame, with an assist going to Payne.
With the Gusties out to a 3-1 lead, Lawrence would respond with a power play goal 11:04 into the second period to trim the lead Gustavus lead to one. The Black and gold maintained their 3-2 lead into the third period, but the Vikings were able to get a short handed score to tie things up at three with just over five minutes remaining.
The two teams would then go to overtime but it didn’t take long for the Gusties to net the game-decider. Brown found Mason Etter (Jr., Grafton, Wis.) who brought the puck up the left side and made a cross ice pass to Tyler Rock (Jr., Savage) who one-timed a left handed slap shot past the Viking goaltender for the win.
Grancarov made his first collegiate start in net, making 23 saves, while allowing three goals.
The Gusties will next be in action Friday when they head to UW-Stevens Point for a 7 p.m. contest.