The Gustavus men’s hockey team took a 2-0 lead after one period on a pair of power-play goals by senior defensemen Keith Detlefsen (Lakeville, Minn.), but could not hold on for the win, falling to UW-Superior, 5-3, Saturday night in Superior,Wis. UW-Superior scored four straight goals in the second period to take the lead and added an empty net goal late in the third to secure the victory and hand the Gusties (3-1) their first loss of the season.
Detlefsen opened the scoring with a pair of power-play goals in a 1-minute, 21 second stretch early in the first period. The first goal, assisted by Mike Hosfield (Jr., Golden Valley, Minn.) and Steve Dusich (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.), came at the 15:01 mark of the first period, while the second came at the 13:40 mark. Jon Keseley (Jr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) and Ben Ollila (So., Lino Lakes, Minn.) assisted on the second goal.
In the second period, the Yellowjackets out-scored the Gusties, 4-0, with B.J.Radovich connecting twice. Jay Dardis and Ryan Kuntz added the other goals, which gave UW-Superior a 4-2 lead with 20 minutes to play.
Eric Lindquist (Sr., Bloomington, Minn.) closed the deficit to 4-3 with an unassisted goal less than three minutes into the third period, but could get no closer. Radovich completed the hat trick with an empty net goal with 32 seconds remaining in the game.
Steve Witkowski (Sr., Ham Lake, Minn.) picked up 25 saves in net for the Gusties, taking the loss. Witkowski is now 1-1 on the season. UW-Superior’s Mathieu Bonnelly registered the win with 15 saves.
Gustavus will face Saint John’s in a non-conference match-up Wednesday, November 23 to close out the pre-Thanksgiving schedule. The Gusties will open up the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule December 2-3 with a pair of home games against Concordia-Moorhead.