Blaine, Minn. – Moving on! After falling in a tight 4-3 battle last night to three-seed Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Minnesota Crookston hockey bounced back in a big way, defeating two-seed Gustavus Adolphus on Friday night in the consolation round of the WCCHA conference tournament.
Minnesota Crookston now advances to play in the consolation championship, where they will take on top seeded Minnesota. The Golden Gophers knocked off St. Thomas earlier in the day.
The Gusties would strike first at the 4:39 mark of the first period on a Lucas Rekstad goal, sneaking one past
Jared Aamold (Fr., G, Breckenridge, Minn.).
The Golden Eagles would answer on a two-on-one as
Logan Syrup (Fr., F, Park River, N.D.) would be the beneficiary of a gorgeous feed from
Casey Kallock (Sr., D, East Grand Forks, Minn.) and put it in the back of the net to tie things up at one.
Just over two minutes later, Kallock would do the job himself, finding a rebound and putting it past Jack Killian to give the Golden Eagles the lead with 49 seconds remaining.
In the second period, Syrup would score his second of the night, going five-hole on Killian to put the Golden Eagles up by two at 3-1.
The Gusties would cut the lead to one as Peter Colby went top shelf to make it 3-2 with 6:35 remaining in the second period.
When in doubt, go to
Tyler Zahradka (So., F, Grand Forks, N.D.). Zahradka would score the game-winning goal after finding the puck on his stick in the neutral zone and would snipe one over the left shoulder of Killian to give the Golden Eagles back their two goal lead.
Mitchell Coleman (Fr., F, Hatton, N.D.) would pick up the assist.
Leading 4-2,
Jackson Fuller (Fr., F, Bloomington, Minn.) would cash in on a rebound, barely sneaking it past Killian, putting the maroon and gold up three, at 5-2.
The Gusties would score on a four on four situation at the 17:32 mark of the third period, but it wouldn't be enough, as the Golden Eagles were able to hold off an empty net situation from the Gusties.
Nikolai Rajala (Fr., F, Colleraine, Minn.) had a whale of a game, finishing with three points, all on helpers. Syrup led the way with two goals, while Kallock also finished with two points on a goal and an assist.
Aamold was the story. The freshman finished with 33 saves on 36 Gustie shots, including making 16 saves in the final period.
The Golden Eagles were 0-2 on the man advantage.
Puck drop with the Gophers is set for 11 A.M. tomorrow morning from Blaine.
