Men's Hockey 1/25/02 -- Augsburg 4, St. Mary's 2 

BOXSCORE

WINONA, Minn. (1/25/02) -- Jaro Cesky (Jr., Prague, Czech Republic) and Brad Schwartzbauer (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) had a goal and two assists each as Augsburg College claimed a 4-2 win over St. Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's hockey game Friday night at the SMU Ice Arena.

Augsburg built a 3-0 third-period lead, then held on as St. Mary's scored twice before the Auggies slammed the door on a Cardinal comeback late in the game.

Augsburg improved to 8-7-3 overall and 4-4-1 in MIAC play with the win, its second victory in a row. Augsburg has won three of its last five games to move into contention for the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs. St. Mary's, currently in second place in the MIAC, dropped to 11-5-2 overall and 6-2-1 in league play.

Schwartzbauer opened the scoring with a first-period goal from Frank Huebner (Sr., Northfield, Minn.) and Cesky, and Joe Johnson (Sr., Ramsey, Minn./Anoka HS) gave the Auggies a 2-0 lead with an unassisted goal in the second frame. Cesky scored on assists from Jake Wegscheider (Jr., Little Canada, Minn./Roseville HS) at the 2:19 mark of the third period, as the Auggies built their 3-0 lead.

However, St. Mary's Chad Damerow (So., Albert Lea, Minn.) scored two goals in a 1:49 span midway through the second period to cut the Auggie lead to 3-2. His first goal, on a power play, came from Eric Thom (So., Portland, Ore.) and Sam Phillips (So., Red Wing, Minn.); his second came on assists from Thom and Ryan Stinson (Sr., Winona, Minn.).

But the Auggies capped the victory on a Wegscheider goal at the 14:57 mark, coming on assists from Schwartzbauer and Cesky.

Goalie Peter Samargia (Jr., Gilbert, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert HS) returned to the Auggie lineup after missing last Saturday night's win over Hamline with back spasms, and made 37 saves to notch the win. St. Mary's outshot Augsburg by a 39-23 count, with Eric Richardson (Sr., Skokie, Ill./Lake Forest Academy) coming up with 19 saves.

The teams complete the two-game MIAC series on Saturday (1/26) at 7 p.m. at the Augsburg Ice Arena.