Women's Hockey 2/12/04 -- Augsburg 6, St. Catherine 2 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (2/12/04) -- Lauren Chezick (Jr., Hastings, Minn.) had a four-point night with two goals and two assists, leading Augsburg College to a 6-2 victory over the host College of St. Catherine in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's hockey contest Thursday night at the University of Minnesota Ridder Arena.

Augsburg's top scoring line of Chezick, Annie Annunziato (Sr., Commack, N.Y.) and Stacy Anderson (Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) accounted for four of Augsburg's six goals, as the Auggies claimed the win in the key MIAC series, improving to 11-9-0 overall and 7-6-0 in MIAC play. Augsburg won its third game in a row and fifth victory in its last six starts.

St. Catherine drops to 6-12-1 overall, 6-7-0 in MIAC play.

The win moves Augsburg into a tie with St. Mary's (7-6-0 MIAC, 10-7-1 overall) and St. Olaf (7-5-0 overall, 9-7-2 MIAC) for third place in the MIAC; St. Mary's, which split with Augsburg earlier this year (SMU 6-4 on goal differential), beat Bethel 3-0 on Wednesday night and hosts the Royals on Friday (2/13); St. Olaf, which swept Augsburg earlier this year, faces Hamline in a two-game series this weekend.

Augsburg built a 2-0 lead after one period, and after giving up a goal in the second period to tighten the score, the Auggies scored four goals in an eight-minute span in the third period to blow the game open.

With her four-point effort Chezick, a junior, continues to edge closer to Augsburg's all-time scoring record. Chezick now has 105 career points -- 45 goals and 60 assists. Angie Rieger (1997-2001) holds the school's career scoring record with 120 points (school-record 68 goals, 52 assists). Chezick holds Augsburg's school record for career assists (60).

The Auggie top line struck first just 2:18 into the game, as Anderson stuffed in a rebound off a Chezick shot for the Auggies' first goal. Augsburg dominated the first period, outshooting the Wildcats by a 12-7 margin.

Augsburg's second line of Carrie Velenchenko (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.), Kristin Murr (Fr., Thornton, Colo./Quest Academy HS) and Corrie Krzyska (Jr., Fridley, Minn.) struck late in the first period, as Velenchenko scored on assists from Murr and Krzyska at the 16:34 mark.

St. Catherine scored late in the second period, as Sarah Robinson (Fr., Mahtomedi, Minn.) scored after a pass from behind the net from Laurel Volenec (So., Loyal, Wis.) at the 17:49 mark.

But Augsburg's Chezick struck twice in the third period, putting home a rebound from a Calla Lundquist (So., Gillette, Wyo./Campbell County HS) blast from the point at the 9:04 mark, then scoring her 13th goal of the season at the 13:59 mark on a one-timer from a textbook pass from Annunziato.

St. Catherine trimmed the lead again, as Angie Carstenbrock (Jr., South St. Paul, Minn.) stole the puck in the Augsburg zone and scored an unassisted goal at the 15:31 mark.

But Augsburg scored just 42 seconds later, then added another goal 50 seconds after that to seal the victory. Annunziato scored her 13th goal of the year from Chezick and Anderson at the 16:13 mark. Then Jana Ford (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) got a steal in the zone and popped two shots off St. Catherine goalie Megan Kane (So., Apple Valley, Minn.), finally putting her third shot home for her third goal of the season at the 17:03 mark.

Augsburg outshot St. Catherine by a 28-23 margin. Kane made 22 saves for the Wildcats. Kristin Johnson (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn./Wayzata HS) stopped 21 shots for Augsburg to notch the victory, improving to 7-5-0 on the year.

The teams finish the key MIAC series on Saturday (2/14) at 2:05 p.m. at the Augsburg Ice Arena.