St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team’s MIAC schedule within the month of November has turned into shootout mania. After skating to a 2-2 tie after regulation and a five-minute overtime session against Hamline for the second night in a row, Gustavus found itself in a shootout looking for the extra point for the third consecutive game. With the shootout tied at 1-1, sophomore Sam Majka (Wayzata, Minn.) beat Hamline goaltender John Sellie-Hanson blocker side with a wrister to allow the Black and Gold two points in the conference standings. Gustavus is now 3-2-3 overall and 1-0-3 in the MIAC, while Hamline moves to 3-3-2 overall and 0-0-2 in the MIAC.
Despite a hot start that saw Gustavus outshoot the Pipers 9-2 in the opening ten minutes of the game, Hamline was able to strike first at the 13:47 mark of the first period with a goal by Brandon Zurn from Charlie Adams and Joe Rubbelke.
Less than two minutes after Zurn’s goal, Tyler Lapic (Sr., New Prague) had the answer. In control of the puck alone at the bottom of the left circle, Lapic saw a small window of space and rifled the puck past Sellie-Hanson five-hole to tie the game at 1-1 at the 15:36 mark.
Tyler Lapic was not done there as the senior struck once again early in the third period. Following a scoreless second, Hamline defenseman Jonny Gehrt was sent to the penalty box for checking from behind. Unmarked with the puck on his stick to the right of the Hamline net, Lapic took advantage of the space, closed in on the goal, and flipped a backhand over the shoulder of Sellie-Hanson for the go-ahead goal. The goal came :14 seconds into the power play at the 3:27 mark.
After killing off a penalty four minutes after Lapic’s goal, Gustavus found itself on the man-advantage for the second time in the frame at 10:26. However, it was Hamline who capitalized on special teams but rather Gustavus. Picking off a pass at the Gustie blue line and streaking down the rink on a breakaway, Cody Mason was able to put the puck past the glove of Erik Johnson (So., Rice, Minn.) to tie the game at 2-2.
Neither team could find the game-winner during the remaining minutes of regulation or overtime session, sending the game into a shootout.
Hamline when first in the shootout and put the pressure on Gustavus with a goal by Kevin Novakovich. Gavin Tufte (Jr., Blaine, Minn.) failed to convert on the ensuing shot, and Hamline’s Joe Rubbelke also missed on Hamline’s second try. Sticking the game’s trend, Tyler Lapic pulled through with a goal to tie the shootout at 1-1 heading into the third round. Andrew Herbet and Blake Schammel (Sr., Red Wing, Minn.) both failed in the third round, and Brandon Zurn was turned away on Hamline’s fourth try. Zurn’s miss opened the door for Majka to capped the two-point shootout with his blocker-side wrister.
Gustavus recorded 45 shots compared to Hamline’s 20 in the game. The Gusties killed off both Piper power plays and finished 1-for-2 on the man-advantage.
Erik Johnson earned his third straight draw after stopping 18-of-20 shots, which included forcing three misses in the shootout. Johnson’s counterpart, John Sellie-Hanson made 43-of-45 saves and was in net for the shootout.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team will take a break from MIAC play for a weekend as it gears up the MIAC/NCHA Thanksgiving Classic being held at Don Roberts Ice Rink on Saturday Nov. 29 and Sunday Nov. 30. The Gusties will take on Lawrence University at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday and Marian University at 7:05 p.m. on Sunday.