SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team tied 2-2 after falling in a shootout to the Bethel Royals on Saturday night and move to 2-5-1 on the season and 0-1-1 in the conference.
The Gusties hosted the annual teddy bear toss game as the bears made it onto the ice with an opening goal from Tyler Ebner (Sr., La Crosse, Wis.) at the 12:28 mark as he snuck past the Bethel net minder on a five hole shot, with assists credited to Toby Sengvongxay (Sr., Luverne) and Nick Klishko (Sr., San Diego). The Gusties closed out on the first period outshooting the Royals 7-5.
Gustavus kept the momentum going through the second. At the 6:29 mark Connor Clemons (Sr., Savage) connected on a shot to Brandon McNamara (Fy., Andover) who skated it up before making a final pass to Nick Mohs-Messerli (Fy., Orono) for a 2-0 Gustie lead as they held a 6-4 shot advantage.
In the third period Bethel put the pressure on and wore down on Gustavus. The Royals went on a power play seven minutes in to end the Gustie shutout.
Despite many solid opportunities for the Gusties to respond, Bethel found the back of the net with six minutes left in regulation to force an overtime.
Both squads battled through a gritty and physical overtime before going into a three man shootout when the Royals scored in their first attempt and Gustavus was unable to answer back. The Gusties were dealt their first tie of the season as Bethel gained an extra point in the standings.
Grant Boldt (Fy., Frazee) made 15 saves in the loss while allowing two goals.
Gustavus is back in action on Thursday December 2nd when they travel to Saint John’s for a 7:00 puck drop.