WILIAMSTOWN, MA – Gustavus Adolphus men's ice hockey (4-5-1) held off Williams (2-2) 4-2 in the Ephs' Lansing Chapman Rink.
Gustavus netted the first two goals of the game, before Williams rallied to tie the contest with two goals in the third period. Gustavus re-grouped and got a game-winner from Tyler Lapic with just over five minutes to play and then benefitted from an empty netter in the final seconds to register the win.
Just 28 seconds into the first period the Ephs' Evan Dugdale ripped a shot on the Gusties' Patrick Sullivan from 20 feet out to Sullivan's left that Sullivan snatched with his glove hand.
At 3:32 the Gusties had a two on one with Andy Pearson and Zach May in on the Ephs' Sean Dougherty, but May's shot from in close was steered to the side by Dougherty.
Moments later the Gusties' Alex Gallen from 30 feet out fired a hard blast off of Dougherty and the Eph defense swept the puck away from the goal area to the sideboards.
Over the first eight minutes the Gusties carried the play to the Ephs.
Peter Mistretta sent Eric Rubino in on goal but Gustie goalie Patrick Sullivan kicked Rubino's attempt wide at the last moment.
Just over 11 minutes in Zach May again tested Dougherty who was up to the task with a save that found him sliding to his right to get a pad on the May shot.
Gustavus was not to be denied, however, and they netted the first goal of the game at 11:30 when Ryan Johnson slid the puck under the pads of Sean Dougherty. Credited with assists on the Johnson goal were Darren Lapic and Alex Gallen
In the final minute of the first period Gustavus's Darren Lapic turned on a loose puck down low and his tester was just deflected wide by Dougherty to keep the score 1-0 in favor of Gustavus.
Gustavus out shot the Ephs in the first 20 minutes of play by one, 11-10.
A little over two minutes into the second period the Ephs' Paul Steinig ripped a shot from the top slot off a bouncing puck, but his shot went over the goal to the left side of Sullivan and off the boards.
Two minutes later Peter Mistretta's shot from 15 feet out in front of Sullivan was knocked aside by Sullivan and then to the sideboards by the Gustavus defense.
Zach May of Gustavus and Greg Johnson of Williams both got matching minor penalties at 4:28 so it was four on four for two minutes. Despite the extra ice neither team was able to score in the two minutes of penalty time.
At 6:40 Dane Erickson won the puck for Gustavus on a forecheck along the half boards on Dougherty's left. Erickson then hit Andy Pearson in front with a quick hard pass that Pearson was able to re-direct past Dougherty to put the Gusties up 2-0.
Gustavus looked to be primed to increase their lead to 3-0 when Alex Ellis and Alec Ackman were denied in close by Dougherty keeping it a 2-0 game.
With the Gusties on the power play Cody Skinner stole the puck at the blue line and was in alone on Sullivan at 9:40 but his high shot bounced off Sullivan and out of the goalmouth area and then cleared by Gustavus.
Patrick Sullivan was tested at 15:48 by Nick Anderson, but Sullivan was able to close down the near post and deny Anderson's stuff attempt.
Inside of two minutes left in the second period Taylor Carmola hit a slap shot from the blueline to the left of Sullivan that Sullivan knocked down. The Ephs' Even Dugdale just could not get the rebound up over the sprawled Sullivan.
With the benefit of the Pearson goal Gustavus took a 2-0 lead into the second break.
Shots in the second period favored Gustavus 11-9 and giving the Gusties a 22-19 advantage over the first two periods.
The Ephs sliced the Gustavus lead in half early in the third period when at 1:28 Evan Dugdale scored from in front when Mark Lyons and Cody Skinner worked the puck out of the corner to Dugdale who was sitting in front of Sullivan. Dugdale's score went in through the five-hole.
8:15 in Dane Erickson drifting to the right and to Dougherty's left, fired on goal and hit the pipe on the right side.
8:55 in Nick Anderson carried the puck over the blueline out to the right of Sullivan and was advancing with Eric Rubino. Anderson showed great patience and waited to lead Rubino with a pass. Rubino roofed the puck into the upper left side of the goal to tie the contest.
With 5:19 remaining in the period Tyler Lapic re-directed a shot from the blueline by Alex Gallen who was set up by Ryan Johnson past Dougherty to give Gustavus a 3-2 lead.
With only 27.5 seconds left there was a faceoff to the right of Gustie goalie Patrick Sullivan. Gustavus ended up controlling the puck off the sideboards. Adam Smyth hit Jack Walsh in the neutral zone with a crisp pass and Walsh just skated forward ahead of the pack and deposited the puck in the empty net, making the final score 4-2. The Ephs had pulled goalie Sean Dougherty to gain an extra skater to try and find the goal that would ensure overtime.
Shots on the night favored Gustavus 30 to 29. Eph goalie Sean Dougherty made 27 saves, while Patrick Sullivan made 27 in collecting the win.
"Gustavus's record may not show it but they are a good team," stated Kangas. "They tied Amherst last night and they beat St. Norbert when they were number one. They are very good and they are well coached. It's key for us to have this quality competition because it will help us prepare for the next four games before the break."
"I thought we came out a little tentative and they took the game to us," added Kangas. "In the third period we played really well and really connected. If we take anything form this weekend it's those first 10-12 minutes we played to start the third period. When we play like we did in those 12 minutes we are a very good hockey team."
