Men's Hockey 12/13/02 -- Wisconsin-River Falls 8, Augsburg 1 

BOXSCORE

RIVER FALLS, Wis. (12/13/02) -- Jim Murphy scored two goals to help lead the University of Wisconsin-River Falls men's hockey team to an 8-1 win over visiting Augsburg College on Friday night at Hunt Arena.

River Falls, ranked third in the most recent U.S. College Hockey Online Division III national rankings, dominated all aspects of the game against the Auggies, ranked No. 14 in the same poll. The Falcons outshot Augsburg by a 52-24 margin, converted three power-play goals in four opportunities, and turned a close 1-0 first-period lead into a rout with four goals in the second frame.

The Falcons are now 12-1-1 overall, while Augsburg drops to 7-5.

River Falls held a 1-0 lead after one period and led 5-0 after two. Tony Sikich scored his first collegiate goal at 13:41 of the first period. Joe Dustin got the assist. Murphy scored at 40 seconds of the second period, with Matt Elsen and Marc-Andre Lalande assisting. Rob Novak gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead at 7:33 with Dustin assisting. Murphy scored a power-play goal at 9:15 with Elsen and Mike Salmela getting the assists. The Falcons final goal of the period came from Nate Hansen at 17:43, with Sikich and Dustin assisting. It was Dustin's third assist of the game.

Augsburg cut into the lead 19 seconds into the third period, when Brady Fougner (Fr., International Falls, Minn.) scored on an assist from Dave Nelson (Fr., Woodbury, Minn./South St. Paul HS).

But the Falcons took advantage of a five-minute major penalty on Augsburg with two power-play goals. Adam Kragthorpe scored the first at 4:39 and Jamie Steinert the second at 6:56. Elsen and Lalande assited on the first and Sikich and Kragthorpe on the second. Josh Schlipp scored the Falcons' final goal at 8:14, with Steve Moe and Jess Johnson assisting.

River Falls goalie Dan Meneghin made 23 saves in raising his record to 6-0 on the year. Augsburg goalies Erik Young (So., White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Pete Samargia (Sr., Gilbert, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert HS) combined for 44 saves. Young played the first two periods and made 31 saves; Samargia made 13 saves in the third period.

Both teams are in nonconference action on Saturday (12/14) at 7 p.m. River Falls hosts St. John's, while Augsburg hosts Wisconsin-Stout at the Augsburg Ice Arena.