ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College men's hockey team battled the Saint John's University Johnnies on the road Saturday night in the MIAC Playoff Championship game. The Gusties scored the first three goals of the game, but the Johnnies rallied to tie the game in regulation and defeat Gustavus 4-3 with an overtime game-winner.
Gustavus scored two goals in less than two minutes near the close of the opening period.
Ludvig Mellgren capitalized on a power-play opportunity, scoring his eighth goal of the season to put the Gusties on the board in the 18
th minute, assisted by
Sam Rice and
Jack Anderson.
Riku Brown followed in the final minute of the first frame with his fifth goal of the year to double Gustavus' lead with Mellgren assisting.
Jack Wineman put the Gusties up by three five minutes into the second period with his sixth goal this winter, assisted by Anderson and Mellgren. The Johnnies broke the shutout midway through the second with an even-strength goal to cut Gustavus' lead down to two.
Saint John's scored again six minutes into the third period to pull within one. The Johnnies tied the game in the 15
th minute of the third to even the score at 3-3.
The game went to overtime, where Cashen Naeve scored the championship game-winner for Saint John's.
Gustavus finishes their season 18-8-1 overall, placing second in the MIAC regular season with a 12-4-0 record in the conference.
