St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team rallied with a third period goal by Andy Pearson (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) to force overtime and eventually skate to a 3-3 draw in its opening game of the 2014 MIAC/NCHA Thanksgiving Showcase held on Saturday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink. With Gustavus facing a 3-2 deficit heading into the third period following two unanswered Lawrence goals in the second, Pearson was able to net the equalizer from the slot moving up ice on an odd-man rush.
Gustavus is now unbeaten over its last six games with a record of 2-0-4. The Gusties have skated to four consecutive ties and will enter tomorrow’s weekend finale against Marian with an overall record of 3-2-4. Lawrence records its fist draw of the season and is now 4-4-1.
Gustavus kicked off the night’s scoring at the 8:36 mark of the first period when Jake McCann (Fr., Shoreview, Minn.) buried a one-timer from the high slot off a feed from Tim Donohue (Fr., Bloomington, Minn.). The goal was McCann’s first of his collegiate career. Donohue and Pearson were both credited with an assist on the play, extending their team-leading assist totals to five.
Lawrence’s Brendan Vetter tied the game at 1-1 when he scored just over two minutes later at 10:52 from Matt Moore.
With the score tied at 1-1 after 20 minutes, Gustavus wasted little time gaining momentum back in the second period. Despite being plastered at the blue line after securing a loose puck in the neutral zone, Schyler Adams (Sr., New Prague, Minn.) absorbed the hit and got the puck onto the stick of Gavin Tufte (Jr., Blaine, Minn.). Moving up the right wing, Tufte fired a low, lining wrister past the Lawrence netminder stick-side to put Gustavus back up 2-1 at the 3:47 mark.
Five minutes after Tufte’s goal began Lawrence’s hot stretch in the heart of the period. Ryan Rumble scored at 8:47 to tie the game at 2-2, and Jake Kruetzer scored at 10:44 to put the Vikings on top for the first time up 3-2.
After outshooting Lawrence 17-11 in the second period, the Gusties kept peppering the Lawrence net with a 15-3 shots advantage in the third. That increased offensive pressure eventually led to Andy Pearson’s time-tying goal from Jake McCann and Jake Bushey (Fr., Duluth, Minn.).
Gustavus controlled the shot count by the final tally of 45-23. Neither team could capitalize on its power play chances as Gustavus went 0-for-5 and Lawrence went 0-for-2.
Erik Johnson (So., Rice, Minn.) was the goaltender of record for the Black and Gold, making 20 saves. Lawrence’s Mattias Soderqvist went the distance and made 42 saves – 32 of which from the second period and beyond.
The Gusties will now gear up for a 7:05 p.m. game against Marian tomorrow night at Don Roberts Ice Rink. Marian defeated St. Olaf 3-1 in its first game of the weekend. Prior to tomorrow evening’s Gustavus versus Marian game, the Vikings will face St. Olaf at 3:30 p.m.