Men's Hockey 2/5/05 -- St. Thomas 4, Augsburg 2
BOXSCORE
MINNEAPOLIS (2/5/05) -- Defenseman John Bottoms (Jr., Hibbing, Minn.) scored a power-play goal and assisted on the first two goals of the game, leading the No. 12-ranked University of St. Thomas men's hockey team to a sweep of Augsburg College, as the Tommies claimed a 4-2 win Saturday night at the Augsburg Ice Arena to take both games of a key Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series.
The Tommies, now 12-3-4 overall, 9-1-0 in MIAC play, dominated the first two periods, then held off a furious rally by Augsburg, which dropped its third game in its last four to fall to 7-9-5 overall, 4-6-3 in MIAC play.
The Tommies outshot the Auggies by a 35-14 margin in the first two periods to build a 3-0 lead. Dan Krmpotich (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored from Bottoms and Brandon Wilcox (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.) on the power play at the 17:27 mark of the first period, and Nick Harris (So., Hastings, Minn.) followed just 2:02 later with his team-leading 13th goal of the season from Anthony Blumer (Sr., Eagan, Minn./St. Thomas Academy HS) and Bottoms.
Bottoms then scored on the power play from Wilcox at the 11:32 mark of the second period for the eventual game-winning goal, and Henrik Impola (Jr., Brainerd, Minn.) capped the Tommie tallies at the 8:02 mark of the third period on his first goal of the season, from Ryan Hoehn (Fr., Waseca, Minn.).
Augsburg made the game closer in the third period, as the hosts turned the tables with a 24-2 shots-on-goal advantage. With a 5-on-3 power-play advantage midway through the frame, Augsburg scored twice in a 31-second span.
Aaron Johnson (So., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) scored from
Joe Haehn (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) and
Danny Carlson (Fr., Roseville, Minn.) at the 13:32 mark, and
Critter Nagurski (So., International Falls, Minn.) scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season at the 14:03 mark from
Steve Collova (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Carlson.
But Augsburg could get no further, as Tommie goalie Kevin Hennessey (Sr., Shoreview, Minn./Minnehaha Academy HS) made 22 saves in the third period to claim the win, improving to 7-1-2 on the year.
Tony Ciro (Jr., Spring Lake Park, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) made 33 saves in a losing effort for Augsburg.
Both teams face conference-leader St. John's in their next MIAC series. St. Thomas faces St. John's next weekend, with Friday's (2/11) game at 7:30 p.m. at the St. Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights, and Saturday's (2/12) game at 7 p.m. at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Augsburg has next weekend off, before returning to action against St. John's. The Auggies will host the Johnnies on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Augsburg Ice Arena, and will travel to St. Cloud to face the Johnnies on Saturday, Feb. 19, also at 7 p.m.
