Men's Hockey 12/4/04 -- Concordia-Moorhead 6, Augsburg 5

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (12/4/04) -- Nate Ronning (Sr., Detroit Lakes, Minn.) completed his hat trick with a power-play goal with 1:34 remaining, lifting Concordia College-Moorhead to its first win of the season, a 6-5 triumph over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's hockey game Saturday afternoon at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

Ronning scored twice on power-play goals in the third period, as Concordia improved to 1-7-1 overall, 1-1-0 in MIAC play. Augsburg, paced by two goals and two assists from Critter Nagurski (So., International Falls, Minn.), drops to 3-5-2 overall, 1-1-0 in MIAC play.

Concordia jumped on the board early, building a 4-0 lead in the first 12 minutes of the first period. But Augsburg rallied back, scoring once in the first period and tying the game with three goals in the second frame.

Ronning opened the scoring for the Cobbers at the 1:59 mark, followed by two goals from Brett Johnson (Jr., Thief River Falls, Minn.), one at the 3:19 mark and another on a power play at the 9:30 mark. Matt Notermann (Sr., Rochester, Minn.) scored on the power play to put the Cobbers up 4-0 at the 12:03 mark.

Augsburg clawed its way back into the game two mintues later, as Nagurski scored an unassisted goal. The Auggies then dominated the second period, outshooting the Cobbers by a 16-5 margin and putting three goals on the board, by Aaron Johnson (So., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS), Jason Fleck (Fr., Camrose, Alberta/Camrose Composite HS) and Danny Carlson (Fr., Roseville, Minn.).

Concordia clinched the game behind Ronning in the third frame. Ronning scored on a power play at the 7:53 mark. Augsburg's Nagurski tied the game with a goal at the 12:24 mark, but after Augsburg was whistled for a penalty with 1:53 left, Ronning scored the game-winner on assists from Matt Hansen (Sr., Fargo, N.D.) and Jon Rudnick (So., Moorhead, Minn.) 19 seconds later.

Concordia went 4-for-5 on its power-play opportunities, while Augsburg scored twice in nine power-play opportunities. Augsburg outshot Concordia by a 36-27 margin.

Lee Baldwin (So., Horace, N.D.) made 31 saves for Concordia, while Augsburg goalie Tony Ciro (Jr., Spring Lake Park, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) made 21 saves.

Both teams return to MIAC action with conference series next weekend. Augsburg faces Hamline, with Friday's (12/10) game at 7 p.m. at the State Fair Coliseum and Saturday's (12/11) game at 7 p.m. at the Augsburg Ice Arena. Concordia hosts St. John's, with Friday's game at 7 p.m. and Saturday's game at 2 p.m.