St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team’s hopes of sneaking its way into the MIAC Playoffs vanished thanks to a four goal third period by Bethel University on Friday night at the Bethel Ice Arena. Despite scoring two goals in the second period to tie the game at 2-2 with one period to go, the Gusties couldn’t keep a surging Bethel offense at bay and allowed four unanswered goals in the third.
With the 6-2 victory, the Royals fulfill spoiler duties to improve to 4-18-2 overall and 2-12-1 in the MIAC. Gustavus heads into tomorrow evening’s season-finale with nothing but pride on the line at 7-9-8 overall and 4-5-6 in the MIAC.
After 40 minutes of regulation with the score knotted at 2-2, it didn’t take long for the Bethel scoring-spree to begin. The Royals netted three goals within the opening seven minutes of the frame courtesy of JT Walters at 1:38, Justin Bananno at 2:36, and Brock Raffaele at 6:35. Raffaele later capped the period and brought the game to a final with his second goal at 16:52.
John McLean (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) suffered the loss after allowing all six goals and making 26 saves – 11 of which came in the third period. Matt Rowe picked up the win, allowing two goals and turning away 28 shots.
The night’s scoring began with first period Bethel goals by Mitch Hughes at the 4:51 mark and Travis Payne at the 12:14 mark.
Despite the early two-goal deficit, the Gusties won the second period thanks to a pair of goals by senior Blake Schammel (Red Wing, Minn.). Schammel first cut the lead to 2-1 at 5:55 on assists from Conor Deal (Fy., Anchorage, Alaska) and Tim Donohue (Fr., Bloomington, Minn.). He later knotted the game at 2-2 with a power play goal at 15:07 from Jared Docken (So., Northfield, Minn.) and Donohue.
Bethel finished with a 32-to-30 shots advantage. The Gusties went 1-for- 4 on the power play, while Bethel went 0-for-2.
The Gusties and Royals will finish their 2014-15 campaigns on Saturday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.