The Gustavus men’s hockey team needed four third-period goals to get past Saint Mary’s 4-0 on Friday night in St. Peter. Mike Hosfield (Jr., Golden Valley, Minn.) led the Gusties with a goal and and an assist, while defenseman Eric Lindquist (Sr., Bloomington, Minn.) added a pair of helpers. Gustavus improves to 10-3-1 overall, 5-0-0 in the MIAC. Saint Mary’s falls to 2-12-1 overall, 1-6-0 in the league.
Gustavus had plenty of scoring opportunities during the game’s first two periods, out-shooting the Cardinals 23-17, but Saint Mary’s goalie Curtis Nosal proved up to the challenge.
Nosal’s stiff defense began to fall apart midway through the third period. After a pair of unrelated penalties created a four-on-four situation, Hosfield fired a shot that found its way past Nosal to put the Gusties up 1-0. Ian Wolff (So., Chanhassen, Minn.) assisted on the even-strength goal at the 7:48 mark of the third period. Tim Ornell (So., Lino Lakes, Minn.) would make the score 2-0 just 44 seconds later, 11 seconds after being released from the penalty box to create a Gustie power play.
The third Gustavus goal of the period came with 9:00 showing on the arena clock off the stick of Loren Havemeier (Sr., Sleepy Eye, Minn.). Mike Carr (Fr., Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Lindquist were credited with assists on the even-strength goal.
Steve Dusich (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) put the exclamation point on the Gustie victory with 5:33 to play, getting behind the Cardinal defense for a short-handed goal. Hosfield and Lindquist picked up assists on the play.
Gustavus goalie Erik Kraska (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) stopped 25 shots to move his record to 8-1-1 on the season. Kraska also picked up his second shutout of the year. Nosal was credited with 33 saves, but dropped to 1-7-0 on the season.
Gustie defensemen Jon Keseley (Jr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) was kept out of the scoring column, bringing to an end an impressive 15-game point streak reaching back into last season. Keseley and Keith Detlefsen (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.), who remains two points short of the 100-point mark for his career, are tied for the team lead in points with 22 each.
Gustavus improves to 10-3-1 overall, 5-0-0 in the MIAC. Saint Mary’s falls to 2-12-1 overall, 1-6-0 in the league. The teams will drop the puck for the second game of the home-and-home series tomorrow evening at 7:05 p.m. in Winona.