Last season, Gustavus Adolphus won the regular season title and then battled a determined St Olaf squad to win the MIAC championship and NCAA berth before losing a one-goal game to St Norbert in the national tournament. No surprise, the Gusties appear to be a contender again this year in the typically unpredictable and highly surprising MIAC.
Since the end of last season, head coach Eddie Effinger has departed St Olaf in order to become the head coach at his alma mater, Amherst College, replacing the legendary Jack Arena. St. Olaf wasted no time in immediately appointing assistant Tyler Lindstrom to the head coaching position and that continuity in direction will benefit the Oles heading into the 2025-2026 conference schedule where history has shown anyone can literally win on any night creating a lot of drama in the standings and conference tournament action.
The Favorite
Gustavus Adolphus should still be the favorite in the MIAC, at least until someone proves otherwise. Hunter Newhouse, Drew Holt and Jack Wineman return to pace a solid offense for the Gusties. The Gusties also have a solid tandem of goaltenders to lean on in junior Marko Belak and sophomore Colin Androlewicz who essentially split time last season.
The Dark Horse
St Olaf, who lost in the championship game last spring should benefit from the easy coaching transition from the summer along with the return of their top two scorers in Jonathan Panisa and Tyler Green. Senior Gunnar Johnson anchors the blueline while sophomore goaltender Matthew Malin will look to build on his strong first-year numbers in the crease for the Oles.
Players to watch:
Augsburg: Peyton Hanson – forward; Landon Parker – forward
Bethel: Tyler Braccini – forward; Spencer Kring – defense
Concordia: Tal Halliday – defense; Joseph Harguindeguy – forward
Gustavus Adolphus: Drew Holt – forward; Hunter Newhouse – forward
Hamline: Brock Carls – forward; AJ Carls – forward
St John’s: Matt DeRosa – forward; Spencer Rudrud- forward
St Mary’s: Junna Juntanen – forward; Cole Mickel – defense
St Olaf: Tyler Lindstrom – coach; Jonathan Panisa – forward
St Scholastica: Eino Rissanen – goaltender; Tristan Shewchuk – forward
USCHO Predicted finish
- Gustavus Adolphus
- St Olaf
- Bethel
- St Scholastica
- Augsburg
- St John’s
- St Mary’s
- Concordia
- Hamline
The Oles waste no time in sampling tough competition as they open the season with a pair of road games against St. Norbert from the NCHA. Elsewhere on opening weekend, Augsburg plays Aurora in an season-opening tournament at Dubuque; St Mary’s travels to lake Forest; St John’s travels to Marian; Gustavus will take on Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the two Concordia (WI/MN) institutions face-off in Moorhead, MN to start the 2025-26 campaign.