Men's Soccer 9/16/06 -- Augsburg 0, Hamline 0 (2OT) 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (9/16/06) -- Claiming its seventh straight shutout this season and ninth dating to last year, the Augsburg College men's soccer team played to a scoreless tie with Hamline University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer game on Saturday afternoon at Hamline's Pat Patterson Field.

Augsburg goalkeeper Pascaul Venter (So., Rochester, Minn./John Marshall HS) made three saves, including one in the second overtime, to record his sixth shutout of the season and seventh of his career. He recorded a key save in the closing seconds of the match to preserve the tie.

Hamline outshot Augsburg by a 6-2 margin in the first half, but Augsburg came back to outshoot the hosts 9-3 in the second half. Hamline had two shots in the second overtime, and the teams ended with 11 shots apiece. Augsburg had eight corner kicks to Hamline's five -- including a 6-2 Augsburg advantage in the second half.

"We struggled early in the game sorting out how we wanted to play, but at halftime the guys already had the answers, and from that point on I thought we were much better," said Augsburg head coach Greg Holker. "We struggled finding the finishing touch -- not for lack of chances -- we were just unable to secure the final strike."

Augsburg claimed its seventh straight shutout to start the season and ninth dating to last year. Augsburg has outscored its opponents by a 15-0 margin this season. Augsburg's shutout streak has now reached 862 minutes -- nine straight shutouts and 12 minutes of a ninth game dating to last year.

The Auggies used 19 players in the contest, a testament to the team's emerging depth, Holker noted.

"Our depth helps in games that go this deep, especially with James See (So., Richfield, Minn./Holy Angels HS), Alec Rabine (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS), Vinnie Brooks * (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS), and Alex Hildebrandt (Fr., St. Paul, Minn./Highland Park HS) all playing through some injuries. Unfortunately, depth doesn't score goals," Holker said. "Kelsey Duerr (Fr., Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park HS) was very successful in this match off of the bench. He did well to win balls in the air, but didn't get a clean strike on frame -- a tribute to Hamline's effort."

Augsburg has a nonconference game on Wednesday (9/20) at 6:30 p.m. at St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn., then return to conference play next Saturday (9/23) with a 1 p.m. game at Carleton. Hamline hosts Northwestern-Roseville on Monday (9/18) at 4 p.m.

"We will spend the week preparing for a difficult MIAC weekend on the road, at Carleton on Saturday where Brian Tenhoor and Bobby Phillips can give us problems on a massive field, and at St. John's on Sunday, a team that is getting its dangerous players back in full health," Holker said.