ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team was unable to recover from a two-goal deficit Saturday night in its home opener at Don Roberts Ice Rink, falling 2-1 to the University of St. Thomas. The Tommies swept the weekend series 2-0, while the Gusties drop to 1-3-2 overall and 0-2 in the MIAC.
After a scoreless first period that saw eight shots from the Tommies and 13 from the Gusties, St. Thomas ended the shutout at the 3:53 mark in the second period on a goal from Connor McBride. After nearly 14 minutes without a score, the Tommies increased their lead to two goals with 2:24 left in the period on a score from Johnny Roisum. After 40 minutes of play, the Tommies led 2-0.
Eleven minutes into the third period, Evan Erickson (Fy., Woodbury, Minn.) gave the Gusties their first goal of the game on assists from Colin Hernon (So., Bloomington, Minn.) and Nick Sheak (So., Woodbury, Minn.). After the goal from Erickson, his second of the season, the Gusties skated with a little more energy and generated a few more scoring opportunities, but Tommie goalie Joe Morris came up with a number of big saves and held Gustavus to the one goal.
St. Thomas outshot the Gusties 30-27, including a 14-5 advantage in the second period. The Tommies had one power play opportunity and couldn’t convert for a goal, while Gustavus went 0-3 on the man-advantage. Chris Amsden (Fy., St. Peter, Minn.) suffered the loss in net after recording 28 saves in his debut at Don Roberts Ice Rink.
Gustavus continues MIAC play next weekend with a home-away series against Augsburg. Friday’s game in St. Peter begins at 7:05 p.m. and Saturday’s game in Minneapolis starts at 7 p.m.