The Gustavus men’s hockey team jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead and held on for an important 4-1 win over #5 Elmira College at the Norwich Holiday Tournament in Northfield, Vermont on Friday afternoon. Brad Wieck recorded the first two-goal game of his collegiate career and goaltender Matt Lopes turned in a strong performance in the nets to move the Gusties into the championship game on Saturday at 6:00 pm (CST) against the winner of the Norwich/Neumann game.
Casey Dynan opened the scoring for the Gusties at 18:35 of the first period with assists from his brothers, Rory and Patrick. David Martinson extended the Gustavus lead to 2-0 just :44 seconds later with an assist from Ross Ring-Jarvi. The Gusties led 2-0 at the end of the first period.
Elmira put some pressure on the Gusties in the second period, but goaltender Matt Lopes shut the Soaring Eagles down on every attempt. Brad Wieck extended the Gustie lead to 3-0 with a goal midway through the period with assists from Matt Schugel and Ross Ring-Jarvi. Gustavus led 3-0 after two periods of play.
Elmira closed the lead to 3-1 when Rick Schrank scored a short-handed goal off a face-off with 12 minutes left in the contest. The Gusties answered with Wieck’s second goal at the 17:03 mark to claim the 4-1 victory.
Gustavus head coach Brett Petersen stated, “I am very pleased for Matt Lopes. He played well in front of family and friends and against several players he grew up facing in youth hockey in Massachusetts. He played especially well in the second period when Elmira picked up the pace and put some pressure on us in our defensive end.”
Peterson added that he was pleased with the overall defensive effort. “I thought we turned in a solid defensive effort overall. I was particularly pleased with how we sacrificed our bodies and blocked some shots in front of Matt.”
Gustavus improves to 8-4 on the season, while Elmira drops to 7-4. The Gusties will now play the winner of the Norwich/Neumann game on Saturday at 6:00 pm (CST) in the championship game of the Norwich Holiday Tournament game.
The game will be broadcast on KRDS (95.5 FM – New Prague, Minn.) beginning at 5:50 pm. You can also listen to the broadcast through the Gustavus Athletics website. There will also be a video stream of the game courtesy of Norwich University. Follow this link to watch the broadcast.