St. Peter, Minn. – Thanks in part to the scoring expertise of senior captain Corey Leivermann (North Mankato, Minn.), the Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team was able to jump into the national rankings and secure the No. 2 seed in the MIAC Playoffs after going 3-2-1 over the month of February. For his efforts, Leivermann has earned the honor of Gustavus Male Athlete-of-the-Month for February.
Leivermann was Gustavus’s leading scorer over the final month of the regular season. He recorded a total of seven points off six goals and one assist, which included game-winning goals against Saint John’s in a 4-1 win on Feb. 1 and Bethel in a 4-1 victory on Feb. 21. The local product hailing from North Mankato also posted a pair of two-goal games against the Johnnies (Feb. 1) and Tommies (Feb. 14). Leivermann entered February riding a six-game point-streak, and by the time the streak came to an end on Feb. 22 against Bethel, had registered at least a point in 10 straight games.
Following the MIAC’s 16-game conference season, Leivermann finished in a four-way tie for first place in point-scoring. Within conference play, Leivermann scored a league-best 12 goals to go along with seven assists to finish with 19 points – sharing the scoring title with St. Olaf’s Dan Cecka (10G, 9A), Concordia’s Andrew Deters (7G, 12A), and Augsburg’s Mack Ohnsted (5G, 14A). Leivermann was the first Gustie to lead the MIAC in scoring since David Martinson `10 scored 36 points (23G, 13A) during the 2009-10 season.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team defeated Saint John’s 3-2 in the MIAC Playoff Semifinals on Saturday, March 1 and will now travel to Mendota Heights, Minn. where it will face St. Thomas in the MIAC Playoff Championship on Saturday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. The game’s winner will receive the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.