The men’s hockey team earned its first sweep of the season last weekend, beating Augsburg on consecutive nights to improve 4-4-2 on the season and 3-3-0 in the MIAC.

“With only two more conference games before Christmas break and January, we really wanted to come out and make a statement and get points this weekend,” Assistant Coach Jared Phillips said after Friday night’s 6-0 home win in Don Robert’s Ice Arena.

Some young guns were significant contributors in the Friday night game: First-year forward Jack Walsh had the game-winner at 14:13 of the first period, while First-year forward Andy Pearson netted a goal and three assists. Two of those assists went to Sophomore Zach May who had a pair of goals and an assist himself.

“I’ve played with him since I was a freshman in high school, so we know each other really well,” May said on the relationship between him and his line mate Pearson. “[I have] a lot of chemistry with Andy.”

Another young contributor was the man between the pipes, First-year goalie John McLean. McLean stopped all 24 shots he faced on his way to his first collegiate shutout victory.

“Big John played great. We commented that he looked calm and poised especially at times when the rest of us didn’t. He’s definitely seen a lot of games like that with his experience and background, and for him to be a calm and steady presence behind our D is big for this team,” Phillips said.

“I just made plays that I needed to make,” McLean said of the shutout. “My team played good in front of me, and I thought we really played well from top to bottom.”

The Gusties traveled to Augsburg for the Saturday game, a 4-1 victory this time. McLean didn’t get the shutout, but was still remarkable in stopping 36 of 37 shots he faced and allowed the offense to build a 3-0 lead before one finally slipped past him.

After about thirty minutes of even hockey in Saturday’s game, Patrick Hurley got a huge momentum swing for Gustavus as he scored two goals just forty seconds apart. Walsh got his third goal of the year in the third period and Junior forward Dane Erickson iced the game with an empty netter for a final score of 4-1. The Gusties’ lone senior and team captain, forward Ross Ring-Jarvi, had a big weekend as well against Augsburg tallying a goal and four assists between the two games of the weekend series.

Ring-Jarvi leads the team in points with 11, while May and Pearson have recorded eight points apiece in the first eight games.

The next three games for the Gustie Men will be in Wisconsin  and are the last before the new year. They will face Concordia University, Lawrence University and UW-River Falls, part of a long stretch against non-conference opponents.