Men's Hockey 2/28/03 -- MIAC Playoff Semifinals:
St. Thomas 7, Augsburg 6 (OT)

BOXSCORE

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (2/28/03) -- Dustan Lick (So., Eagan, Minn.) scored on a rebound goal at the 14:53 mark of the first overtime, lifting the University of St. Thomas to a thrilling 7-6, come-from-behind victory over Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's hockey playoff semifinal game on Friday night at the Bloomington Ice Garden.

Lick's goal brought to an end one of the most dramatic games in the history of the MIAC playoffs, sending the Tommies (16-8-2 overall) to the conference championship game against St. John's on Saturday (3/1) at 7 p.m. in Bloomington. St. John's (19-6-1), the MIAC regular-season titlist, advanced to the championship game with a 4-2 win over Gustavus (14-12-1) earlier on Friday. The championship-game winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national playoffs.

St. Thomas, which became the first NCAA Division III men's hockey program in the nation to win its 900th game in school history with Friday's victory, will advance to the conference playoff championship game for the 16th time in the 18-year history of the playoffs.

Augsburg finished its season with a 17-9-0 record, the second-most wins in a year in head coach Mike Schwartz's seven seasons on the Auggie bench. He is now 99-72-18 in his career.

The Tommies rallied from a 6-3 second-period deficit with four unanswered goals to earn the victory.

The overtime was the culmination of a battle between the two goalies -- Augsburg's Pete Samargia (Sr., Gilbert, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert HS) and St. Thomas' Bob Tallarico (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.), who relieved starter Zach Sikich (So., Gilbert, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert HS) after he gave up four Auggie goals in the first 13:45 of play.

Both Samargia and Tallarico made thrilling saves on breakaways in the overtime -- a 20-minute, sudden-death session in college hockey playoff games. Augsburg nearly clinched the win with 13:32 left in overtime, when David May (So., Burnsville, Minn.) broke on the goal and appeared to slide the puck past Tallarico. However, in the rush to the goal, the net was pushed off its moorings, and the officials ruled that the net was pushed off before the puck made it past the goal line.

After each goalie made incredible saves on successive rushes, the Tommies scored the game-winner in dramatic fashion. David DuBord (So., Lauderdale, Minn.) popped two quick shots from the slot at Samargia, who moved forward from the net to corral the rebound. But the puck slipped behind a charging Samargia, and Lick found the rebound from the right and put it into the empty net for the game-winner.

St. Thomas outshot Augsburg by a 48-36 mark, holding a 41-23 advantage in the final two periods of regulation and the overtime. Samargia made 41 saves for the Auggies, his second 40-plus-save effort of the season and second-most in a single game in his two-year Auggie career. Sikich managed just five games in his half-period of work, with Tallarico earning the win with 25 saves, allowing two goals.

The game appeared destined to be a scoring fest early, as the teams combined for eight goals in the first period, with Augsburg holding a 5-3 advantage.

Augsburg took the early lead, as MIAC Player of the Year Jaro Cesky (Sr., Prague, Czech Republic) scored two of the first three Auggie goals of the game in the first 7:19 of play. He put the first goal on the board at the 59-second mark of the game, taking a rush from center ice and putting two moves on Tommie starter Sikich before sliding the puck past him.

St. Thomas tied the game at the 4:49 mark, when Dan Krmpotich (Fr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) picked off an errant pass and walked in for the tying goal. But just as quickly, Augsburg took the lead back, when May took a lead pass from Brad Holzinger (Sr., North Oaks, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) and broke past the defense to put a shot on the high side for a goal at the 6:36 mark.

Forty-three seconds later, a streaking Cesky one-timed a pass from Brady Fougner (Fr., International Falls, Minn.) past the goalie for what proved to be the Czech star's final goal in an Auggie uniform. The team's leader in scoring each year, Cesky finished this season with team highs of 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points, ending his Auggie career with 63 goals and 77 assists for 140 points in 102 career games. Cesky earned All-MIAC first-team honors each year of his career.

St. Thomas cut the lead again at the 11:43 mark, scoring on the power play when Anthony Blumer (So., Eagan, Minn.) beat the defense and lit the lamp on a breakaway.

Augsburg drove Tommie starter Sikich from the game at the 13:45 mark, when Fougner scored on the power play, circling left and stuffing the puck past the goalie on assists from Cesky and Shawn Smith (Sr., Temagami, Ont./E.C. Drury HS).

However, the scoring was far from over in the wild first period. St. Thomas cut the lead to a goal on a blast from the left point by Brandon Wilcox (Fr., Apple Valley, Minn.) at the 16:17 mark. But 1:03 later, Augsburg took a two-goal lead again, as Tarik Yumusaklar (Fr., Lakeville, Minn.) popped home a rebound on a May shot that hit the post.

Augsburg scored what proved to be its last goal of the game at the 9:54 mark of the second period, when Brad Bjorgum (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) scored on a rebound from a Yumusaklar shot to give the Auggies their biggest lead, 6-3.

The Tommies began their comeback on the power-play, as Bryan Skrypek (Sr., Little Canada, Minn.) scored on a rebound off a Drew Palmgren (Sr., Blaine, Minn.) shot at the 15:09 mark.

Dan Starkey (Sr., Bloomington, Minn.) tipped in a shot from Lick on a 3-on-2 break at the 33-second mark of the third period to cut the lead to 6-5, and Palmgren tied the game at the 10:39 mark, screening the goalie and tipping a shot in front from John Bottoms (Fr., Hibbing, Minn.).

Augsburg had its best chance to win in regulation in the final minute, when a Holzinger shot hit the post -- one of three Auggie shots to collide with metal in the contest.

Augsburg loses 11 seniors to graduation from a team that produced a 53-42-9 record and three MIAC postseason berths in their four-year careers, never finishing lower than fourth in the MIAC in their tenure.