SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team played bend-but-don’t-break hockey for nearly 59 minutes Friday night, but with 66 seconds remaining in the game No. 4-ranked UW-Eau Claire sniped in the lone goal of the contest to escape with a 1-0 victory. The Gusties move to 5-8-1 and the Blugolds improve to 12-2-2.
The Gusties were solid in the first period, outshooting the Blugolds 11-8, but were unable to capitalize on a five-minute power play. The second period momentum tilted in favor of the visitors as they went on the power play four times, but the Gusties were able to kill off each penalty. After 40 minutes the Blugolds outshot the home squad 22-16.
Seven minutes into the third frame the Gusties went on their second power play opportunity of the night but once again were unable to find the back of the net. Late in the game the Blugolds played the puck into the left corner of their offensive zone, which came loose directly on to the stick of Jon Richards in the faceoff circle who rifled it into the top-left corner of the net. The Gusties had an extra attacker for the final 15 seconds but were unable to get a shot off.
Chris Amsden (Sr., Saint Peter, Minn.) suffered the loss after a commendable night in goal, making 33 saves. His counterpart made 23 saves as the Blugolds outshot the Gusties 34-23. Eau Claire went 0-4 on the power play while the Gusties went 0-2.
Gustavus next hosts UW-River Falls at 7:05 p.m. tomorrow.