Women's Hockey 2/28/04 -- Augsburg 2, St. Thomas 1 (OT) 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (2/28/04) -- Calla Lundquist's (So., Gillette, Wyo./Campbell County HS) goal at the 1:29 mark of overtime gave the Augsburg College women's hockey team a 2-1 victory over the University of St. Thomas on Saturday afternoon at the Augsburg Ice Arena, breaking a two-season, 20-game (19-0-1) unbeaten streak for St. Thomas against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents.

Lundquist, a defender, took a pass from forward Dottie Gilkerson (Sr., Somerset, Wis.) at the left point and fired a shot under the glove of St. Thomas goalie Katie Jetland (Fr., Excelsior, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret HS) for the game-winning goal with 3:31 remaining in the extra session.

Augsburg improves to 14-9-2 overall and 10-6-2 in the MIAC, extending its unbeaten streak to eight straight games (6-0-2). Augsburg is 8-1-2 in its last 11 games to close the regular season. St. Thomas, MIAC regular-season champions for the second straight year and currently the No. 8-ranked team in the latest U.S. College Hockey Online (www.uscho.com) Division III national poll, finished its regular season 18-4-2 overall, 16-0-1 in MIAC play.

Augsburg will finish as the No. 5 seed in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs and will face No. 4 St. Mary's on Tuesday night (3/2) at 5 p.m., at the St. Mary's Arena in Winona in the conference "play-in game." The winner of that contest will face top-seed St. Thomas on Thursday (3/4) at the St. Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights at a time to be determined (possibly also 5 p.m.). No. 3 St. Olaf will play at No. 2 Gustavus in the other semifinal on Thursday.

Augsburg, St. Mary's (15-8-2 overall, 11-7-0 MIAC) and St. Olaf (13-10-2 overall, 11-7-0 MIAC) all tied with 22 conference points in the final three spots in the postseason picture, after all three teams won their final regular-season games on Saturday. In conference tiebreakers, St. Olaf earned the No. 3 seed, with St. Mary's at No. 4 and Augsburg at No. 5.

Augsburg and St. Mary's will play in the single-elimination "play-in game" for the second season in a row. Last year, St. Mary's beat Augsburg 2-1 in the playoff, scoring twice in the final 4:29 to overcome a 1-0 Auggie lead.

St. Thomas' last loss to an MIAC opponent was a 4-3 overtime loss to St. Mary's in the last game of the 2002-03 regular season, on Feb. 22, 2003. St. Thomas swept its two conference playoff opponents last season to and won 17 straight games against conference opponents this season (one in non-league play) before Friday's 2-2 overtime tie with Augsburg.

St. Thomas outshot Augsburg by a 34-15 margin on Saturday, but Augsburg senior goalie Katie Fedoryk (Sr., Austin, Minn.), playing her final home contest at Augsburg, came up big, making 33 saves to claim the win. She faced several point-blank shots in the closing minutes, including a shot by UST's Tomery Stolz (Sr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) that hit the post with under two minutes remaining.

Jetland made 13 saves in a losing cause for the Tommies.

St. Thomas took the lead first, on a goal from Melanie Drake (So., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) at the 8:30 mark of the second period, on assists from Sue Heinmiller (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Allison O'Hara (So., Duluth, Minn./Denfeld HS).

But Augsburg tied the game at the 14:56 mark of the second, as Stacy Anderson (Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) pounced on a rebound off a Britt Pennington (Fr., St. Cloud, Minn./Tech HS) miss and deposited it in the net for her second goal of the series. Lauren Chezick (Jr., Hastings, Minn.) also assisted on the game-tying goal.

The teams ended up playing 4-on-4 hockey in the overtime, after a St. Thomas and Augsburg player were each given double-minors for roughing, following a scrum with one second remaining in regulation time.

The game was the final home contest for five Augsburg seniors -- Fedoryk, Gilkerson, Annie Annunziato (Sr., Commack, N.Y.), Christina Hughes (Sr., Chaska, Minn.) and Laura Hoffman (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS). Annunziato, who transferred to Augsburg from Manhattanville (N.Y.) last year, ended the regular season with 150 career points (61 goals, 89 assists) in 102 career games. At Augsburg, she has 87 points (39 goals, 48 assists) in 51 games.