Mitch Calvert
Talk about a nail-biter.
Emo native Cody Mosbeck and his Gustavus Adolphus Gusties’ teammates are off to the NCAA Division III “Frozen Four” after a thrilling 2-0 victory over UW-Superior on Saturday.
Ross-Ring Jarvi gave Gustavus all the cushion they needed with a goal early in the second period, then David Martinson added an empty-netter with four ticks on the clock to punch the Gusties’ tickets to Lake Placid, N.Y.
“We knew that we matched up well with them,” the 23-year-old Mosbeck said of UW-Superior.
“We knew it was going to be a tight game because they play a very similar style, very similar system, and our coaches said it was basically going to be like an inter-squad game and that’s kind of the way it was.
“Our goalie came up huge when we needed him to, our top line got one goal, and that was enough,” he added.
Senior Matt Lopes was unbeatable between the pipes, turning aside 33 shots and handing UW-Superior (23-4-3) its first shutout loss of the season.
The Gusties improved to 18-10, and will be making their first appearance at the “Frozen Four” since 1982.
“We’ve improved this year, for sure,” said Mosbeck. “Obviously we didn’t have a huge change in players, a few additions helped out, but everybody’s just been a little more mentally checked into every game it seems.”
The Gusties’ Eric Bigham was whistled for a penalty with 2:15 to go in the third—forcing the squad to kill off a 6-on-4 advantage down the stretch.
Mosbeck said Lopes has been steady between the pipes all season, but noted everyone is on the same page this season and it’s resulted in positive results in the win column.
“He’s very sound and very calm in there, and he does his job, but basically that is what everyone on our team has done,” Mosbeck enthused. “A lot of role players and nobody really tries to step outside their boundaries.”
The Gusties will open up the “Frozen Four” in Lake Placid this Friday afternoon when they meet Wisconsin-Stout (23-5-2).
“We played them once this year early in the season and we won that game, but it was kind of a sloppy game on both sides,” Mosbeck admitted. “I think it will be a lot better game Friday.
“And, actually, I played with two guys on their team [Matt Moran and Alex Breeden] in Mason City, Iowa [NAHL].”
It would be understandable if the Gusties got a little caught up in the novelty of playing in a place with so much history, including the “Miracle on Ice” at the 1980 Winter Olympics, but Mosbeck stressed the squad is going there for one reason.
“We’re getting ready for it, got a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes to get all the plane tickets organized and everything, but our entire team is excited,” he remarked. “At the same time, we aren’t going to Lake Placid just to be there or anything like that.
“We are going to win.”
The Gusties have scored a whopping 108 goals in their 28 games to date—good for a 3.9 goals-a-game clip.
Mosbeck, who was voted in as team captain last summer, has scored four goals and added three assists from the blueline in his third season with the club.
But the story was not quite so memorable for Fort Frances native A.J. Tucker as his St. Scholastica squad fell for the second time in a row to Wisconsin-Stout and were eliminated from tournament contention.
Jack Wolgemuth scored with 37 seconds left to give UW-Stout a 2-1 win—extending Stout’s winning streak to 10-straight.
Stout goalie Matt Koenig was the difference, stopping 33 shots, including a breakaway chance by Tucker himself.
“That’s actually a big surprise because A.J. doesn’t miss too often,” Mosbeck noted. “He’s very crafty and hard to stop alone on a breakaway.
“A.J. had a great year this year, and I was surprised that they didn’t move on.”
In other news, Mosbeck’s sister, Nikki, had her hockey season end on the weekend as her Notre Dame Hounds of the Saskatchewan Female Midget ‘AAA’ Hockey League were ousted by the top-ranked Swift Current Wildcats in the second round of the playoffs.
The Hounds stole one win with a 2-1 victory in Game 3, but then fell 3-1 in Game 4 to be eliminated.
Notre Dame went into the playoffs as the fifth-ranked team and beat the fourth-ranked Regina Rebels in a five-game series to advance to face the Wildcats.
“This was my second season at Notre Dame,” noted Mosbeck, 17. “I came here in Grade 11 hoping to make the ‘AAA’ team but missed my goal and played on the Midget girls’ ‘AA’ team.
“I had an amazing year as my team won league and were called ‘provincial champions,’ although we did not get to go to provincials.
“This year coming back, I had a better mindset and re-set my goals back to making the ‘AAA’ team and worked hard in the summer,” she added. “I came back as a Grade 12, made the team, and also got voted assistant captain by my teammates, which to me is better than the coaches picking because it is saying that the girls on my team wanted me to be a leader.”
Mosbeck said the year was a good learning experience for her.
“We were not as strong a team as last year, so we really had to push ourselves to be the best that we could,” she remarked. “It showed a lot, especially in the playoffs.
“Our school actually called us the team with the most heart, which meant a lot, especially to us captains because one of our main goals was to teach the girls the most we could about having heart,” Mosbeck stressed.
“I personally improved a lot,” she enthused. “My puck movement had to get quicker, and I had to adjust quickly to a faster league, and was able to do it.”
