Men's Hockey 2/10/07 -- Gustavus 3, Augsburg 1

BOXSCORE

ST. PETER, Minn. (2/10/07) -- The Gustavus Adolphus College men's hockey team snapped a five-game winless streak and clinched a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff spot with a 3-1 win and a series split with Augsburg College at Don Roberts Ice Rink on Saturday night.

Joe Welch had a goal and two assists to lead the Gusties, who are now 11-11-1 overall and 9-5-0 in the MIAC. Aaron Johnson * (Sr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) had the lone goal for the Auggies, now 8-9-4 overall, 5-3-4 in MIAC play.

Gustavus took a 1-0 lead early in the first period, as Welch scored an even-strength goal at the 3:50 mark. Augsburg evened the score at 1-1 on a power-play goal by Johnson at 3:02 of the second period. A.J. Hau (Fr., Fort Collins, Colo.) and Critter Nagurski * (Sr., International Falls, Minn.) assisted on Johnson's goal.

The two teams battled evenly throughout the second period until the Gusties took a 2-1 lead on a power play goal by Sami Idris with 30 seconds left in the period. The Gusties extended their lead to 3-1 on a goal by Steven Jensen just three minutes into the third period (3:19).

Kevin Johnson picked up the win in the nets for Gustavus. He recorded 17 saves. Andy Kent (So., Lakeville, Minn.) suffered the loss for Augsburg. He turned away 23 shots.

The Gusties will close out the regular season with a two-game series against St. John's next weekend. Augsburg has two series left in its regular season, facing Concordia-Moorhead next weekend, with both games at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

Gustavus outshot Augsburg by a 26-24 margin, but Kent claimed 24 saves to improve to 7-6-4 on the season. Kevin Johnson (So., Montrose, Minn.) collected 21 saves in a losing effort.
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