The Gustavus men’s hockey team jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but were shut down by Ole goaltender Jeff Wilde the rest of the way as St. Olaf went on to claim a 3-1 victory in Northfield. Joe Welch scored for Gustavus early in the first period. The Gusties end their season with a mark of 11-13-2.
After Welch gave Gustavus a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal at 1:12 of the first period, the Oles rallied to tie the score on a goal by Andy Ockuly at the 4:20 mark and then took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Bryan Osmundson at the 11:39 mark. The Oles took their 2-1 lead into the locker room at the end of the first period.
Gustavus controlled play for most of the second period outshooting St. Olaf 13-3, however Wilde came up with several big saves to shut the Gusties out and maintain the 2-1 lead through two periods.
Wilde continued his mastery of the Gusties in the third period and the Oles sealed the win with a power play goal by Mike MacMillan at the 18:21 mark extending the St. Olaf lead to 3-1.
Gustavus once again hurt itself by not being able to stay out of the penalty box as the Gusties were whistled for seven penalties for 25 minutes including one 10-minute misconduct and one 10-minute game misconduct.
Kevin Johnson suffered the loss in the nets for Gustavus. Johnson recorded 15 saves and allowed all three goals.
The Gusties, who swept the Oles during the regular season, were knocked out of the playoff in the first round for the second consecutive season.