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On Dec. 1, the men’s hockey team was at home at Drake Arena in St. Paul, against the first place Gusties. Hamline's first-year goaltender, Matt Wanvig, was busy for much of the contest. Wanvig had 37 saves in three periods of play. With the contest tied at 3-3 at the beginning of the third period, Wanvig had 14 saves and didn’t let anything in the net. The goaltender saved the game for the Pipers and gave the Hamline offense the opportunity to win the game. Unfortunately, Johnson didn’t allow anything by him in the third either.

Near the end of the third period, Piper sophomore Dustin Fulton was called for slashing. The penalty produced a power-play in Gustavus’ favor. Just 25 seconds into overtime, Gustie senior Jon Keseley broke the tie and sent both teams to the showers. Keseley managed one shot on goal in each period but it wasn’t until overtime that his persistence paid dividends.

First-year Piper Matt Buckley got the game started with his goal in the first period. Buckley was assisted by fellow first-year Lee Joos. Piper sophomore Steve Festler had a stellar game as he recorded his first two-goal game of the year.

Despite the Pipers’ high scoring and solid goaltending, it was penalties that killed them in the end. Hamline had six penalties compared to Gustavus’ five.

On Dec. 2, men’s hockey was back at it against Gustavus. This time they were on the Gusties’ home ice but the results were not much different.

Hamline gave Wanvig the night off between the pipes. In his place, the Pipers started junior Todor Petkov. The Gusties gave Petkov work for much of the night, evident by his 52 saves.

A little over four minutes into overtime, with the game tied 4-4, Gustavus’ Keseley came through in the clutch again. Keseley caught Petkov out of position and scored the game winning goal.

Despite the outcomes of the games, the Pipers played extremely well against Gustavus, a MIAC powerhouse. The Pipers, this year, are a young and inexperienced team. They have no seniors and only two juniors on their 27-man roster. The Pipers travel to Vermont on Dec. 29 to partake in the St. Michael’s Tournament.

Women's hockey

The season has not been kind to the Piper women’s hockey team. Hamline played Gustavus twice last week, once in St. Paul and once in St. Peter. The Pipers lost both games, 1-8 and 3-4 in overtime.

On Dec. 1, the Pipers were in St. Peter. In a penalty filled game, Gustavus managed 50 shots on goal. Marie Gunderson of Gustavus registered a hat trick against the anemic Pipers, scoring in every period. Gustavus’ scoring was dispersed among five players.

Hamline’s lone goal came in the second period, making the score 1-4. On the goal, Hamline first-year Sophie Davidson was assisted by sophomore Kate Raasch. The Pipers' lack of scoring can be traced to a lack of shooting. Davidson and Raasch accounted for nearly 50 percent of all shots registered by a Pipers (2 each). The Pipers had ten shots at the Gustavus goal.

The very next night, both teams were back at it in Hutton Arena. Though the Pipers lost 3-4 in overtime, the game was much more competitive than the night before.

It didn’t look good for Hamline going into the third period, trailing 2-0. First-year Melanie Leveille turned the game around for the Pipers in a hurry. About two minutes into the third period, Leveille scored her first goal of the game. Leveille was assisted by Davidson and junior Marie Gross. Gustavus would nullify the goal by scoring a retaliation goal seven minutes later.

Leveille would score again in the third, 35 seconds after Gustavus, making the score 3-2. She was assisted by Raasch. She scored again in the final minutes of regulation to tie the game 3-3.

Jenny Pusch for the Gusties scored the game winning goal three minutes into overtime.

Leveille’s three-goal performance was only the fifth hat trick ever recorded in the Piper record books and was the first hat trick since 2004.

The Pipers have only won one MIAC contest this season while first place Gustavus is undefeated in the conference.