Even though they’ve sufferred three consecutive losses, two among the  top 10, Gustavus is still in it

The Gustavus Men’s Hockey team faced their toughest test of the season this past weekend as two Division III top 10 teams came to the hill to face the Gusties.

Friday night, January 9,  Gustavus played host to the second-ranked team in the country: the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Junior Eric Bigham put the Gusties on the board early with a slap shot, by way of Juniors Cody Mosbeck and James Leathers, off of a face-off barely two minutes into the contest. Junior David Martinson’s fifteenth goal of the season gave Gustavus the 2-0 advantage before Superior found the back of the net once in the first period and sent the game into intermission at 2-1.

Senior Casey Dynan lit the lamp early in the second period, but the Superior players responded with two goals of their own in a two-and-a-half minute span. Sophomore Brad Wieck put the Gusties ahead going into the second break via a Martinson assist. After both teams managed to keep the other off the board in the third period, Superior scored with one minute and thirty-four seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. In the extra session, when the two teams had appeared to have ended the game in a knot, Superior’s Chris Wilson slipped the puck between Senior goaltender Matt Lopes’ legs with :44 seconds remaining, ending the contest in a 5-4 advantage.

“That game proved to us that we can play with the best teams in the country, no questions asked.” said Junior Patrick Dynan. “We clearly haven’t played our best hockey right now and our goal is to improve every day and make each other better so by the time playoffs come we are peaking as a team.”

The following evening, #6 St. Scholastica came to town, but the hangover from the previous night’s loss proved devastating for the Gusties. After single goals in both the first and second periods and two more slipped between his legs in the third, Sophomore goaltender Josh Swartout was pulled from between the pipes after 17 saves. The Saints added another off of backup First-year Jake Swansson, leaving with a final score of 5-0 in favor of the visitors, pushing Gustavus’ record to 8-7 (3-3).

“Offensively we need to finish more and be more consistent with our offensive production like we were in the first 7 games. Special teams needs to improve, mainly the power play. I believe we are last in the league and that should not be the case with the amount of talent that we have on our team,” said Junior Rory Dynan. “The way the referees are calling it so tight this year, the better your special teams are the farther you should go in the playoffs.”

This weekend, the Gusties play a home and home series with the University of St. Thomas in a MIAC showdown. The Tommies sit directly above the Gusties, who sit in a tie for fourth place with Bethel, and even though a series sweep wouldn’t leapfrog the black and gold over St. Thomas, it would go a long way towards improving their conference positioning. For the rest of the way, Gustavus will take on three sub-.500 programs while facing only two with winning records, St. Thomas and conference-leading Hamline. “As a team we need to become more disciplined, we need to realize that, yes, we are the most talented team in the conference but that only magnifies our mistakes,” said Lopes. “To gain momentum and [get into the] playoffs, we need to win. It’s simply stated but true.”

Gustavus will play host to the Tommies on Friday night and will spend their Saturday evening in St. Paul.