MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team suffered a 7-2 loss at Augsburg on Friday afternoon in non-conference action to start the season 0-1. The Auggies proved strong on the power play with three man-advantage goals.
Augsburg got on the board first with a bouncing puck goal 12:20 into the opening frame. Just over two minutes later, the Auggies found the back of the net again with a sharp angle shot from the left half wall and carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. The home team outshot the Gusties 10-9 in the first 20 minutes.
Nearly five minutes into the second period, Augsburg was whistled for boarding, giving the Gusties their first power play of the season. Nick Klishko (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) took advantage by charging the goal and fired a backhanded shot to find the upper right corner of the net at the 5:26 mark to cut the Auggie lead to 2-1. Caleb Anderson (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Toby Sengvongxay (Sr., Luverne) were credited with the assists.
Four minutes later, Augsburg responded with a power play goal of its own to take a 3-1 lead. The Auggies almost took a 4-1 lead near the end of the second period with a two-on-one breakaway, but Robbie Goor (Sr., Anoka) made a save and the whistle blew before the puck crossed the goal line. With 35 seconds left in the period, Dan Sandvig (Jr., Savage) blasted a one-timer from the point to cut the lead back to one. Sengvongxay and Will LeNeave (Sr., Orono) assisted on the goal and the score remained 3-2 Augsburg at the second intermission. The Gusties outshot the Auggies 14-8 in the period.
Three minutes into the third, Augsburg took advantage of another power play with a goal at the 3:39 mark to take a 4-2 lead. The Auggies then tallied their third power play goal of the game at 10:56 and wasted little time with an odd-man rush goal at 11:25 to jump ahead 6-2. The home team put more salt on the wound by scoring its seventh goal of the game with less than a minute left in regulation.
Goor suffered the loss in net after making 23 saves. The Gusties outshot the Auggies 33-30.
Gustavus (0-1) is back in action 7 p.m. Saturday at Saint Mary’s for a non-conference contest.