The Gustavus men’s soccer team needed a win to stay in the hunt for a MIAC Playoff spot an the Gusties played like it claiming a convincing 4-0 win over Hamline in St. Peter on Tuesday afternoon. Bret Vander Streek led the Gustavus attack with two goals, while Stefan Kolis added a goal and an assist, and Mark Adams picked up three assists. Luke Strom picked up the shutout win in the nets.
Vander Streek got the Gusties off to a quick start as he took a pass from Stefan Kolis and beat Piper goalkeeper Zach Nelson just 37 seconds into the match. Gustavus held on to its 1-0 lead through the entire first half and then Kolis picked up a rebound of a hard shot by Mark Adams and pushed into a wide open net just 38 seconds before the intermission. Gustavus led 2-0 at halftime.
The Gusties continued to control play in the second half and just missed on a couple of excellent scoring opportunities. Midway through the half, Piper forward Dave Donner blasted a point blank shot at Gustavus goalkeeper Luke Strom who made an outstanding reflex save. The Gusties cleared the ball and quickly started a counter attack and the result was a breakaway goal for Vander Streek, his second of the game at the 70:43 mark. Mark Adams was credited with the assist.
Ten minutes later, junior midfielder Max Malmquist closed out the scoring when he took a pass from Mark Adams, beat a defender with a nifty move at the top of the 18-yard line and directed a shot just inside the right post at the 80:21 mark. The goal was Malmquist’s second of the season, while Adams picked up his third assist of the contest.
The win was important for Gustavus as it created a three-way tie for fourth place with one game left in regular season play (the top four teams in the final regular season standings qualify for the MIAC Playoffs). Gustavus (8-6-3 overall, 5-3-1 in the MIAC) needs to defeat Augsburg on Saturday and get some help from some other teams if they are going to qualify for the MIAC Playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.