Men's Hockey 12/14/01 -- Wisconsin-River Falls 4, Augsburg 2 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (12/14/01) -- Josh Schlipp (Fr., Chisago Lakes, Minn.) scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season on the power play early in the third period, giving the University of Wisconsin-River Falls a lead it would not relinquish en route to a 4-2 victory over host Augsburg College in a nonconference men's hockey game Friday night at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

Schlipp's power-play goal, at the 3:51 mark of the third period, was followed 43 seconds later by a goal from Joe Dustin (So., Vadnais Heights, Minn.), giving the Falcons a 3-1 lead. Each team would add another goal to produce the final margin.

Wisconsin-River Falls, ranked sixth in the latest U.S. College Hockey Online Division III national poll, improved to 9-2-2 overall with the win, while Augsburg dropped to 5-6-1 overall, breaking a two-game unbeaten streak.

After an even first period, Augsburg jumped on the scoreboard first in the second frame, as Frank Huebner (Sr., Northfield, Minn.) lit the lamp on assists from Brad Holzinger (Jr., North Oaks, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) and Brad Schwartzbauer (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.), 49 seconds into the period. Marc-Andre Lalande (Fr., Deux-Montagnes, Quebec) scored his first collegiate goal for the Falcons at the 6:46 mark on assists from Adam Kragthorpe (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) and Carl Boben (Sr., Hibbing, Minn.), tying the game going into the third period.

Schlipp scored on the power play to open the third period from Kragthorpe and Jim Murphy (So., St. Paul, Minn.), and Dustin followed 43 seconds later from Nick Hanrahan (Jr., Sun Prairie, Wis.). Rob Novak's (So., Hayward, Wis.) unassisted steal and score at the 11:26 mark of the third period put the game out of reach.

Augsburg's David May (Fr., Burnsville, Minn.) scored on assists from Chad Moore (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.) and Shawn Smith (So., Temagami, Ontario/E.C. Drury HS) in the final two minutes on an extra-skater, power-play situation.

Jacque Vezina (Jr., Hudson, Wis.) made 26 saves to score the win, while Peter Samargia (Jr., Gilbert, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert HS) made 31 saves in a losing effort.

Both teams return to action on Saturday (12/15) with nonconference games, Wisconsin-River Falls hosting St. John's at 7:05 p.m. and Augsburg playing at Wisconsin-Stout (Menomonie, Wis.) at 7:30 p.m.