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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Chad Gilmer (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) and Josh Sweeney (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) scored first-half goals for Augsburg College, lifting the Auggies to a 2-0 win at the University of St. Thomas in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer game on Saturday afternoon.

The win for the Auggies (5-2-0 overall, 1-1-0 MIAC) snapped a 17-game winless streak (0-15-2) to the Tommies, dating to the 1992 season. The Auggies were awarded a forfeit victory over the Tommies on Sept. 23, 1992. The last "on-the-field" win for the Auggies over the Tommies came on Oct. 26, 1988, a 1-0 home win.

"This is a massive result," said Augsburg coach Greg Holker. "We showed some strong character, bouncing back from an unfortunate loss on Wednesday to get a win against a team we hadn't beaten in 21 years. Getting that monkey off my back feels good, but the way we did it is even more encouraging. It was a great effort by all of our guys and some good quality soccer."

Gilmer scored his third goal of the season just three minutes into the contest, assisted on a feed by Matt Bowman (JR, Maple Grove, Minn.) and a header by Van Hong (SR, St. Louis Park, Minn.).

"Set pieces have been a problem for us in a few games, so to commit as many fouls as we did is something we have to correct," Holker said. "However, we dealt with them very well defensively and scored a great goal right after the kickoff to set the tone in the game. The first ball in was perfect from Bowman, and Van headed back across the frame to a wide-open Gilmer for an easy finish."

Sweeney notched his second goal of the season in the 29th minute, off a service by Benjamin Wexler (SR, Minnetonka, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret HS).

"Missing #T.J. Haag# (SR, Apple Valley, Minn./Burnsville HS) to injury was a bit of a concern but Peter Osborn (JR, Eagan, Minn./Eastview HS) went the full 90 and played very well," Holker said. "Sweeney's presence continues to increase in our program after scoring another great goal. Wexler's service on that was spot on. Wexler was unfortunate to not record another when he hit the post from a difficult angle. He was threatening all game long. I thought Van Hong played one of his better games today, covering a lot of ground."

Augsburg was outshot by a 14-6 margin, but Will Morlock (FY, Grand Haven, Mich.) came through with five saves in goal to record the shutout victory, his third of the season. Alex Benson had three saves for St. Thomas.

Augsburg returns to action with a nonconference game against Northwestern-Roseville on Monday (9/20) at 7:30 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field.

"This was a good response for us, but we have a lot of work still to be done," Holker said. "We will not be satisfied with anything other than improvement every day, and that begins immediately with our recovery. We need to get some guys healthy again before our next MIAC clash."