Box Score

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Augsburg scored three unanswered goals, including two in the game's final 1:16, to defeat Saint John's 4-3 in the MIAC Playoff semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

With the goaltender pulled, Augsburg (17-9-0, 10-6-0 MIAC) tied it with an extra-attacker goal from Luke Dietsch with 1:16 remaining and Chandler Madry scored the game-winning tally on a 2-on-1 with 17 seconds left.

The Auggies advance to play the winner of tonight's other semifinal game between Gustavus Adolphus and St. Thomas for the MIAC Playoff championship, and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, next Saturday, March 3.

Dietsch gave the Auggies a quick 1-0 lead with his first goal of the game 3:56 in, but the Johnnies (16-8-2, 11-5-0 MIAC) answered with three consecutive goals in the second period to gain a 3-1 advantage.

Junior forward Mitch Fritz (St. Cloud, Minn.) found classmate Matt Colford (Champlin, Minn.) from behind the net for the equalizer 5:07 into the second frame. 

Senior forward Sam Valerius (Maple Grove, Minn.) gave SJU the lead at the 10:26 mark and Fritz handed Augsburg a two-goal deficit 1:05 later. Jason Krych cut the Johnnies' margin in half 2:26 after Fritz's tally.

Sekesi just missed a goal in the final minute of the second period, when his shot attempt on the backdoor slid behind the goaltender wide of the crease, and Valerius hit the crossbar seven minutes into the third period.

Sophomore goaltender Andrew Lindgren (Minneapolis, Minn.) made 36 saves in the loss, as Augsburg out-shot SJU 40-29 in the game. Both teams were 0-for-2 on the power play.