The Gustavus men’s hockey team built a 3-0 first period lead against UW-Stout in its seasson opener and never looked back, defeating the Blue Devils 7-4 on Friday night in St. Peter. The Gusties improve to 1-0-0, while UW-Stout suffers their first defeat of the season, falling to 2-1-0. Sophomore Cody Drysdale (Mankato, Minn.) netted a pair and assisted on three others to lead Gustavus, while junior Steven Jensen (Kentwood, Mich.) added a goal and three assists.
Senior Keith Detlefsen (Lakeville, Minn.), an All-America selection a year ago, got the Gusties on the board with a power play goal just 4:23 into the game. Cody Drysdale lit the lamp for the first time just five minutes later. Jensen and junior John Arundel (Eden Prairie, Minn.) were credited with assists. Arundel added the third Gustie goal just past the 7:00 mark of the period. Jensen and Arundel were credited with assists on the power play goal.
Gustavus extended the lead to 4-0 with 13:45 to go in the second period as junior Mike Hosfield (Golden Valley, Minn.) took a pass from senior Steve Dusich (Apple Valley, Minn.) and placed the puck past Blue Devil goalie Mike Stone to convert with the man advantage. Stout began to pick away at the lead with a goal by Andy Wiesner with 5:23 remaining in the period to cut the lead to 4-1. Only 11 seconds later, though, the lead extended back to 5-1 as the Gusties the ensuing face-off. Drysdale then found Jensen for his first goal of the season. UW-Stout cut the deficit back to three late in the period as Mike Kautz fired a shot past Gustavus goalie Erik Kraska (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.).
An Adam Boche goal with 11:19 left in the third period would cut the lead to 5-3, but any joy felt by UW-Stout players and coaches about the goal was quickly put by the wayside. The Gusties responded directly off the face off as Cody Drysdale took a pass from Steven Jensen and lit the lamp for the second time on the evening. Only eight seconds elapsed between the goals. Three minutes later, Gustavus pushed the score to 7-3 with a power play goal by Jon Keseley (St. Louis Park, Minn.). Keseley’s shot came from just inside the blue line and wobbled as it passed just over the left shoulder of Mike Stone and into the net. Detlefsen and Drysdale were credited with assists on the goal. A goal by UW-Stout’s Luke Schroeder with 6:34 to go closed out the scoring.
The Gusties made their chances with the man advantage count against the Blue Devils, converting four of five power play chances. UW-Stout was unable to convert any of their six chances with the extra man, but were able to take advantage of some confusion created by an exit from the penalty box. Kautz’s second period goal was scored just two seconds after Cody Drysdale emerged from the penalty box.
Kraska picked up the win in net for the Gusties, turning away 28 shots, including 14 in the third period alone. Mike Koenig gets the loss for the Blue Devils, allowing three goals before being pulled in favor of Stone.
Gustavus picked up its second season opening win in six tries under the tutelage of Brett Petersen. The other was a 7-4 road win over Bethel to start the 2001-02 season. The Gusties put seven goals on the board for the first time since beating Bethel 7-2 at Lund Arena on February 12, 2005.
Gustavus will now embark on a three-game road trip, travelling to River Falls, Wisconsin on Saturday to take on the Falcons of UW-River Falls and to the Duluth-Superior area on November 11 and 12 to face St. Scholastica (Nov. 11, 7:05 p.m.) and UW-Superior (Nov. 12, 7:05 p.m.). A non-conference road game at Saint John’s on November 23 will round out the pre-Thanksgiving schedule.