The Gustavus men’s hockey team lost 3-1 in a non-conference matchup against St. John’s on Tuesday evening at Don Roberts Ice Rink. Jon Keseley (Sr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) scored an unassisted goal in the second period, but the Johnnies’ two goals in the first period were too much for the Gusties to overcome. Gustavus drops to 2-4-1 overall, while St. John’s improves to 3-4-0.
St. John’s jumped out to an early lead when Jordan Swan stole a Gustavus clearing attempt and then shot from in between the circles. The puck sailed over Gustavus goaltender Joel Rindelaub’s (So., St. Cloud, Minn.) glove and into the back of the net for a 1-0 Johnnie lead at the 2:32 mark of the first period.
St. John’s added to its lead at the 11:52 mark of the first period on Jake Hipp’s rebound. Johnnie Blake Williams took the first shot and Rindelaub was able to save it, however Rindelaub could not control the puck and Williams stuffed it into the net for a 2-0 lead.
Gustavus cut the lead in half at the 7:14 mark of the second period. Keseley shot the puck from the top of the slot while on the powerplay and scored over St. John’s goaltender Andy Cook’s glove for a score of 2-1.
The Johnnies reclaimed its two-goal lead at the 1:46 mark of the third period when Ian Ross, leading the rush, shot from the red dot to Rindelaub’s right. Rindelaub managed to get his body on the puck but he was unable to locate it and the puck trickled past the goal line to give the Johnnies a 3-1 lead. Both teams had powerplay opportunities towards the end of the game but neither could capitalize and the final score remained 3-1.
Rindelaub recorded 22 saves for Gustavus in the loss and falls to 0-2-0 on the season. Cook notched 22 saves for St. John’s in the victory and is now 1-0-0. The Gusties scored one powerplay goal in six opportunities, while the Johnnies were shutout seven times with the extra-man advantage.
Gustavus will travel to Milwaukee to play in the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Invitational. The Gusties will face MSOE on Saturday at 7:05 pm, and will either play at 1pm or 4pm on Sunday.