Menomonie, Wis. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team capped off its Wisconsin weekend with a 3-1 victory over UW-Stout on Saturday night at the Dunn Co Ice Arena. The Gusties used three unanswered goals over the second and third periods – the final two of which were scored by Adam Smyth (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) – to earn their second win of the season. Gustavus is now 2-2-0 overall, while UW-Stout drops to 2-2-0 with the loss.
After allowing a career-high eight goals in Gustavus’s 8-4 loss on Friday night to UW-Stevens Point, goaltender John McLean (So., Eagan, Minn.) bounced back with the 60-minute victory to improve to 2-1-0 on the year. McLean turned away 26-of-27 shots with 12 of his saves coming in the third period alone.
After a scoreless first period, defenseman Alex Gallen (Sr., Hingham, Mass.) broke the ice with a goal at the 4:44 mark of the second period. The goal was Gallen’s first of the year and was assisted by Drew Aspinwall (Fr., Maple Grove, Minn.).
With Gustavus holding a 1-0 advantage heading into the final frame, Adam Smyth hit the scoresheet for the first time this season in a big way. Smyth scored his first goal of the night from Andy Pearson (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.) at the 6:54 mark to put the Gusties on top 2-0. Nearly ten minutes later at 16:38, Smyth netted his second to extend the Gustie advantage to 3-0. Schyler Adams (Jr., New Prague, Minn.) and Zach May (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.) added the assists on Smyth’s second goal of the evening.
UW-Stout’s Danny Ray brought the scoring to a close with a late goal at the 19:41 point. Blue Devil goaltender Corey Koop suffered the loss after allowing all three goals and making 30 saves.
Gustavus posted a total of 33 shots compared to UW-Stout’s 27 including a 17 shot performance in the third period. Neither team could capitalize on the power play as they each went 0-for-3.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team will head in to conference play next weekend when it hosts Concordia College in a weekend series at Don Roberts Ice Rink. The Gusties and Cobbers will square off at 7:05 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15 and 2:05 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16.