Men's Hockey 11/21/03 -- Wisconsin-Eau Claire 4, Augsburg 3 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (11/21/03) -- Pete Eloranta (Jr., River Falls, Wis.) scored twice, including the game-winner with 2:44 remaining, lifting the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to a 4-3 victory over host Augsburg College in a nonconference men's hockey game Friday night at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

Led by Cody Swanson's (So., Vermillion, Minn./Hastings HS) two goals, Augsburg rallied from a deficits twice to tie the game with three goals in the third period, but Eloranta scored his team-leading fourth and fifth goals of the season, adding an assist for a three-point night.

Wisconsin-Eau Claire is now 5-1-0 on the year, while Augsburg remains winless at 0-4-1 overall.

Eloranta put the Blugolds up early, tallying a goal from Chris Hunter (Sr., Toronto, Ontario/Sir John MacDonald HS) and Ben Manny (Jr., Chippewa Falls, Wis.) at the 7:42 mark.

After a rumble in front of the net resulted in two double-roughing penalties for each team and a power-play for Wisconsin-Eau Claire midway through the second period, the Blugolds took advantage, as Hunter scored a power-play goal from Kyle Garner (Fr., Sun Prairie, Wis.) at the 12:25 mark to give the Blugolds a 2-0 lead after two period.

But Augsburg tied the game in quick fashion early in the third period. Swanson scored from Brad Bjorgum (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) at the 1:21 mark, and Collin Nash (Sr., Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) tied the game on a goal from Blake Dronen (Fr., Chaska, Minn.) at the 5:12 mark.

Bryan Chambers (Sr., Farmington, Minn.) put Wisconsin-Eau Claire back in front with a goal from Manny and Eloranta at the 12:16 mark, but Augsburg returned the favor at the 14:38 mark, as Swanson scored his second goal of the game, on assists from Bjorgum and Joe Haehn (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS). However, Eloranta finished the game for the Blugolds at the 17:16 mark, as he scored his second goal of the contest from Kevin Knapp (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./Spring Lake Park HS).

The Blugolds outshot Augsburg by a 14-5 margin in the first period, but Augsburg claimed a 25-15 shot margin down the stretch. Augsburg ended up outshooting Wisconsin-Eau Claire by a 30-29 margin.

Steffan Braunlich (So., Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola HS), who played his first season at Augsburg before transferring to Wisconsin-Eau Claire, made 27 saves to pick up the win. Erik Young (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) made 25 saves in a losing effort for the Auggies.

Both teams have nonconference games on Saturday (11/22), with Augsburg hosting Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 7:05 p.m. at the Augsburg Ice Arena, and Wisconsin-Eau Claire playing at Concordia-Moorhead at 7 p.m.