SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team hosted UW-River Falls Saturday night and lost by a score of 2-1. With the loss the Gusties fall to 3-3 overall while the Falcons move to 4-1-1.
From the get-go the Gusties seemed to have an edge, finding a lot of quality opportunities but not able to find the back of the net. Gustavus outshot UW-River Falls 10-5 in the first period but the Falcon goaltender, along with Justin Damon (Fy., St. Michael), held strong.
In the second period, River Falls got the break they needed. After a Falcon player made a nice move to get a chance for a shot, he tried bring the puck across the crease and lost it, but Damon was already sliding across the crease and the puck slid past him to his left. The goal was the only of the second frame as the teams went to the third period with River Falls up 1-0.
In the final period, the Falcons got a goal at the 10:49 mark on a nice centering pass and some nifty stick work to take a 2-0 lead, but the Gusties halted the momentum immediately. They were able to put a barrage of shots on net and following a face off in the River Falls zone, Nick Klishko (Jr., San Diego, Calif) was able to corral a rebound and put in a goal to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Trailing by one, the Gusties couldn’t muster a goal over the next five minutes, and pulled Damon with 2:11 remaining. The Black and Gold were able to put three shots on net late, and had a few blocked, but the Falcon goaltender held strong for the victory.
Damon made 28 saves in net for the Gusties in the loss.
Gustavus will next be in action Friday when they host No. 4 Augsburg for a 7:05 contest.