Box ScoreMINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Saint John's hockey scored five unanswered goals to earn a 5-3 win at MIAC-champion Augsburg on Friday, Feb. 19, in Minneapolis.
The win extended SJU's unbeaten streak to eight games (6-0-2 record) and clinched an appearance in the semifinal round of the MIAC Playoffs (No. 2/No. 3 game) next Saturday, Feb. 27. The Johnnies will face St. Thomas, though the location and time is yet to be determined. UST still holds a one-point lead over SJU in the conference standings with one game to play.
Augsburg (15-7-2, 11-2-2 MIAC) scored three goals in the first 6:18 of the game. Trevor Stewart started the scoring 4:14 into the contest, Corbin Chapman made it 2-0 with a breakaway goal 6:05 in and Drew Anderson added to the lead 13 seconds later.
SJU (11-9-4, 9-4-2 MIAC) cut into the Auggies' lead with a pair of power-play goals in the first period. Augsburg entered the game second in all of Division III on the penalty kill (91.2 percent, 73-for-80) and had killed off 44 straight penalties over an 11-game span.
Sophomore forward
Tyler Dunagan (Maple Grove, Minn.) snapped the Auggies' penalty-kill streak with his eighth tally of the season at the 10:14 mark of the first period. Sophomore forward
Huba Sekesi (Germering, Germany) tallied the lone assist via the faceoff win.
Freshman forward
Mitch Fritz (St. Cloud, Minn.) cut the Johnnies' deficit to 3-2 with another power-play goal, his sixth tally of the season, with 3:01 left in the opening frame. Freshman forward
Matt Colford (Champlin, Minn.) and sophomore forward
Sam Valerius (Maple Grove, Minn.) were credited with the assists.
Freshman defenseman
Sean Lang (Apple Valley, Minn.) looked to have tied the game 8:18 into the second period but the goal was disallowed when the referees claimed the net came off its moorings.
Colford tied it for real, however, with his sixth goal of the season at the 15:57 mark of the second, with assists going to Valerius and freshman defenseman
Joey Lindberg (Woodbury, Minn.).
Sekesi scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, his eighth tally of the season, 6:33 into the third period, with a single assist going to senior defenseman
Tyson Fulton (Champlin, Minn.).
Junior forward
Dan McNamara (Grand Rapids, Mich.) padded the Johnnies' lead on an empty-net goal, assisted by junior defenseman
Daniel Tripicchio (Hudson, Wis.), with 3.7 seconds remaining.
Senior goaltender
Saxton Soley (Elk Mound, Wis.) made 30 saves to even his season record at 9-9-4 and move into sole possession of second place in school history with 47 career wins (47-29-10 record).
The Johnnies return home to host the Auggies for Senior Night, and the regular-season finale, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
