Men's Hockey 2/10/06 -- St. John's 4, Augsburg 1 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (2/10/06) -- Scoring four unanswered goals in the second period, St. John's University rallied from an early deficit to claim a 4-1 victory over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's hockey game Friday night at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

Blake Williams (Jr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.) scored the Johnnies' first two goals, with Jake Hipp (Fr., Bismarck, N.D.) adding a goal and assist for the Johnnies, now 13-6-3 overall, 8-3-2 in MIAC play. Matt Czech (Sr., Oakdale, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) added two assists for the Johnnies.

Critter Nagurski * (Jr., International Falls, Minn.) had the lone goal for Augsburg, now 6-11-3 overall, 2-6-3 in MIAC play. Augsburg has lost its last six straight games, and seven of its eight starts since the holiday break.

Nagurski scored from Colby Nichol (Fr., Grande Prairie, Alberta/Grande Prairie Composite HS) and Danny Clements (So., Grande Prairie, Alberta/Grande Prairie Composite HS) at the 18:28 mark of the first period to give the Auggies their only lead of the game.

But St. John's dominated the second period, scoring four goals. Williams was credited with the first goal of the game, after his shot deflected off an Augsburg player in front of the net, at the 11:14 mark. Dustin Mercado (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) received an assist.

Williams then scored from Czech and Hipp at the 15:21 mark, followed at the 17:16 mark on a goal from Nick Levar (Sr., Babbitt, Minn./Ely HS), with an assist to Jordan Swan (So., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park HS). Hipp capped the scoring for the Johnnies, on a goal at the 19:07 mark of the period from Justin Wild (Jr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) and Czech.

St. John's outshot Augsburg by a 37-26 margin. Adam Hanna (Sr., Owatonna, Minn.) scored 25 saves to pick up the win for the Johnnies, while Andy Kent (Fr., Lakeville, Minn.) made 33 saves for Augsburg.

The teams complete the MIAC series on Saturday (2/11) at 2 p.m. at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.