By Shane Frederick
Free Press Staff Writer
ST PETER — After losing the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship to St. Thomas one Wednesday, the Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team had to wait four days to see if their season was going to continue.
“We played Wednesday, gave (the players) two days off and came back with a good practice on Saturday morning,” coach Brett Petersen said. “We had Sunday off, and (Monday), we were either going to practice or turn in equipment.”
The Gusties practiced on Monday because they indeed received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Gustavus will host St. Thomas again at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday at the Don Roberts Ice Rink.
The Gusties women’s team, which earned the MIAC’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament on Saturday, will host Wisconsin-River Falls in the national tournament at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“We live to fight another day,” Petersen said. “We had a really good case, but we were subject to upsets (in other conference tournaments). There were no upsets across the country with the exception of St. Thomas beating us.”
The Gusties won the MIAC regular-season title and defeated the Tommies 4-0 and 7-1 along the way. However, St. Thomas won 2-1 in overtime during the tournament final. The Tommies got the automatic berth, while the Gusties sweat out the rest of the week.
Gustavus gets a home game because it is the No. 2 seed in the west. St. Norbert received the No. 1 seed and will host Adrian on Wednesday. The two west winners will play at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday night at the high seed for a trip to the national semifinals.
Last season, Gustavus advanced all the way to the national championship game where it lost to Neumann. The Gusties are the only team from last year’s Frozen Four to get back into the NCAAs.
“That makes it very special,” Petersen said.
As for the Gustavus women, they are making their seventh consecutive national tournament appearance but are seeking their first Frozen Four trip since 2006.
River Falls knocked the Gusties out of the quarterfinals a year ago with a 2-1 win. This season, Gustavus, which has won its last 12 games in a row, opened the season with a 3-3 tie at River Falls and later, defeated the Falcons 2-1 in St. Peter.
The winner of the Gustavus-River Falls game will host the championship weekend March 19-20.
