The Gusties opened their season with a non-conference loss to Coe College at home. Despite being down 3-20 after three quarters, the Gusties fought their way back into the game.
“We played poorly on offense for the first three quarters, but our defense kept us in [the game],” Senior wideout Cameron Maurer said. “It was good to see that we had the resiliency to come back, and it showed that our team has heart.”
Gustavus erupted for 21 points in the fourth quarter to pull within three points of tying the Kohawks. The Gusties forced Coe to punt in the final minute of regulation, and on the following play Senior quarterback Jordan Becker hit Junior wide receiver Cody Sukalski for a 68 yard completion to put Gustavus in field goal range.
“Coe thought we’d roll over, but we knew differently,” Senior linebacker Tony Palma said. “Our offense started to click, and our defense made some key stops. It’s good to see that our team still had that drive at the end of the game.”
Gustavus’ comeback fell short, however, when the Gusties went for the win on second down and Becker’s pass was picked off in the end zone to seal the win for Coe.
“Any of the guys would have said to go for the win [on second down],” Maurer said. “We probably would have kicked a field goal on [the next play] in case of a bad snap. We just didn’t make the play that we needed to.”
The following weekend, Head Coach Peter Haugen and the Gusties traveled to Hamline to open the Conference season on the road.
“We had lots of success running the ball, and we were much more physical the whole game [than we were against Coe],” Maurer said.
“We had been dominating on offense and wanted to do what we’d been doing the whole game and finish strong.”
The Gusties held a 17-7 lead over the Pipers in the third quarter, but Hamline stormed back to tie the score and send the game into overtime. After both teams scored in the first overtime period, Hamline missed a field goal opportunity in the second overtime.
“Hamline always battles, but they have a tough time closing [out games],” Palma said. “We knew we had to step it up in overtime.”
Gustavus capitalized on Hamline’s missed field goal on the first play of their next possession. First-year Kendrick Hall sprinted for a 25-yard game-winning touchdown to give the Gusties a 30-24 victory to open the Conference season.“We knew the stakes were higher because [the Hamline game] was a MIAC matchup,” Palma said. “We proved to ourselves and to people who look at our new head coach that we have what it takes to contend for a Conference Championship.”
The victory over Hamline was Haugen’s first victory at the collegiate coaching level, and Maurer could sense his coach’s excitement.
“I think [Haugen] was more relieved than us after the [Hamline] game. We should have gotten a win for him the first week, but it must feel good to get [his first win] against another MIAC school. Any win in the MIAC is huge,” Maurer said.
Hall admitted his team had a difficult time finishing off Hamline, but looked at his team’s 1-1 overall record with optimism.
“The Hamline game was tough, but we worked hard enough as a team for us to get the win,” Hall said. “It was important to us to start off [the season] with a win, but sometimes you have to lose [first] so that you can look back at things that happened and work on them to make sure we do things at a great level.”
The Gusties now turn their attention toward Saturday’s home duel against St. John’s. Under the guidance of legendary coach John Gagliardi, the Johnnies find themselves with a 3-0 record and now occupy the sixth spot in the most recent D3football.com national poll.
“We need to focus on the fact that they’re just another team. They like to run, and we have a good run defense,” Palma said. “We have a good matchup this year, and we’re looking forward to playing the Johnnies.”
Although Haugen has never coached against the Johnnies, his predecessor Jay Schoenebeck beat SJU only once in his 15-year tenure. Gustavus has not beaten the Johnnies since 1997 and has only won six games in the annual matchup since 1980.
“Right now we have the mindset that we can win any matchup,” Maurer said. “It really doesn’t matter if it’s Hamline or St. John’s; we just have to play physically [and we’ll have a shot].”
The Johnnies return to Gustavus for the first time since they spoiled the inaugural Homecoming game in new Hollingsworth Field. SJU beat Gustavus 40-0 in that game, but the Gusties are hoping that focusing on the fundamentals will help them this time around.
“We just need to work on the little things and avoid dumb penalties,” Maurer said. “We’d obviously like to be 2-0, but our first game, was a non-conference game so we can put it behind us and focus on the [remainder of our] MIAC schedule.”