SAINT PETER, Minn. – Continuity and experience have served the Gustavus men’s hockey team well while navigating through the pandemic. With so many uncertainties of what the future holds, the Gusties have relied on veteran leadership as they approach this truncated season with a “one day at a time” mantra.
“I give the guys a lot of credit because they’ve done a really good job with a ton of adversity in our day-to-day interactions,” said Head Coach Brett Petersen, who is in his 21st season on the Gustavus bench. “We are simply a day at a time and we just try to enjoy the opportunity that we get each day because we don’t know if we are going to have an opportunity tomorrow. At the end of practice, everyone says, ‘we’ll see you tomorrow, maybe.’”
What tomorrow brings for the Gusties is their first game in over 11 months as they travel to Augsburg for a season-opening non-conference game at 2 p.m. This season’s schedule features seven MIAC games and four non-conference contests with no conference playoffs. The team with the highest winning percentage at the end of the regular season will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
The Gusties return four of their top-five scorers from last year’s team that ranked third in the MIAC in goals per game.
Caleb Anderson (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.), an assistant captain this season, is the team’s top returner having led the MIAC in points (34) and goals (16) last year, earning Second Team All-America and MIAC Co-Player of the Year honors. Defensemen Will LeNeave (Sr., Medina), also an assistant captain, joined Anderson on the All-Conference Team last year after scoring 11 points on three goals and eight assists. LeNeave was an integral piece in the Gustie defense that ranked second in the league last season with 2.35 goals allowed per game. Logan Norman (Sr., Luverne) wears the “C” on his chest this season after tallying 10 points on seven goals and three assists last year.
“He doesn’t speak very much but when he does its very powerful,” Petersen said of Norman. “He certainly picks and chooses when and what to say. He is a true leader by example. He lets Caleb and Will lead more by the vocal part. The three of them have been really good together because they play off each other, which is good so we don’t have all the same voice and it’s been a welcoming environment that they’ve created for our young guys. Our young guys have been able to get up to speed as quick as they have because of the older guys.”
Key returners on offense include Connor Clemons (Jr., Savage), Nick Klishko (Sr., San Diego, Calif.), and Tyler Ebner (Jr., La Crosse, Wis.), who ranked second, third, and fourth, respectively, in scoring last season. The three forwards combined for 58 points and 30 percent of last season’s goals.
Along with LeNeave, Toby Sengvongxay (Sr., Luverne) has been a staple on the blue line for the past three seasons. Sengvongxay played in all 26 games last year with two goals and eight assists. And in net, Robbie Goor (Sr., Anoka) returns after starting in 21 of 26 games last season with a 2.35 goals against average and .915 save percentage. He posted a 9-8-2 record with 517 saves.
Petersen also mentioned Stanislav Danaev (Fy., Moscow, Russia) and Tim Lopez (Fy., Fort Collings, Colo.) as newcomers who may see extended minutes on the ice to make an impact.
“Our young guys have really fallen into a nice groove because our older guys are great role models,” Petersen said. “We also understand that from week to week, we may have guys out so the key word is you have to be resilient because you never know when your number is going to be called. It is such a delicate thing that we are playing with here. To have some continuity with guys who have been through it before, especially now through the pandemic, that has been a good thing on our end.”