Men's Hockey 12/5/03 -- Gustavus Adolphus 4, Augsburg 1 

BOXSCORE

ST. PETER, Minn. (12/5/03) -- The Gustavus Adolphus College men's hockey team opened Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's hockey play with a 4-1 win over Augsburg College on Friday night at Don Roberts Rink.

The Gusties took a 3-0 lead into the third period before claiming the 4-1 victory. Junior forward Jason Watters (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.) scored two goals to lead the Gusties and senior goaltender Dan Melde (Sr., Maplewood, Minn.) picked up the win in the nets, making 23 saves.

Gustavus improves to 3-5-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the MIAC, while Augsburg falls to 0-6-1 overall and 0-1-0 in the MIAC. It is the slowest start to a season for an Augsburg men's hockey squad in head coach Mike Schwartz's eight-season tenure; the previous poorest start was a 1-9-1 start (0-4 before the team's first win) in legendary coach Ed Saugestad's last season on the Auggie bench, 1995-96.

The Gusties took a 1-0 lead when Watters scored a power-play goal on a blast from an extreme angle at 15:27 of the first period. Gustavus controlled play for most of the first period, outshooting the Auggies 17-5.

Gustavus extended its lead to 2-0 when Watters tallied his second goal of the game, a slapshot from the right face-off circle, at 7:55 of the second period. The Gusties maintained their 2-0 lead until Craig Jankowski (Jr., Ely, Minn.) chased down a loose puck and slapped a shorthanded shot past Auggie netminder Erik Young (Jr., White Bear lake, Minn.) from near the blue line at 19:54 of the second period. At the end of the period, Gustavus led 3-0 and held a 29-15 edge in shots on goal.

In the third period, Augsburg closed the gap to 3-1 when senior forward Collin Nash (Sr., Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) picked up a puck in front the net and slipped it around Gustavus goaltender Melde at the 11:41 mark. The assist was credited to Steve Belde (Jr., Lake Elmo, Minn./Hill-Murray HS).

The Gusties closed out the scoring just over a minute later, when sophomore forward Loren Havemeier (So., Sleepy Eye, Minn.) gathered a carom off the boards of a shot by Keith Detlefsen (So., Lakeville, Minn.) and wristed the puck into an open net.

Gustavus outshot Augsburg 44-24 in the game. Melde recorded 23 saves and earned the win, while Young turned away 40 shots and suffered the loss. The Gusties converted 2-of-8 power-play opportunities, while Augsburg was 0-for-9 with the man-advantage.

The two teams will play the final game of the series on Saturday (12/6) at 7:05 p.m. at the Augsburg Ice Arena in Minneapolis.