Men's Hockey 2/16/07 -- Augsburg 6, Concordia-Moorhead 2

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (2/16/07) -- Behind two goals and an assist by Critter Nagurski * (Sr., International Falls, Minn.), the Augsburg College men's hockey team clinched a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff berth for the first time since the 2002-03 season, using a four-goal third period to claim a 6-2 win over Concordia College-Moorhead on Friday night at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

Goals by Greg May (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.), Nagurski, Chris Johnson (Fr., Verona, Wis./Madison Memorial HS) and Aaron Johnson * (Sr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) in the third period enabled the Auggies to break a 2-2, second-period tie and claim the victory.

Augsburg is now 9-9-4 overall, 6-3-4 in MIAC play, with 16 league points. Augsburg's win, combined with a loss by St. Mary's (4-8-1 MIAC, 9 points) and a tie by St. John's (4-8-1 MIAC, 9 points) on Friday, enabled the Auggies to clinch a berth in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs. St. John's and St. Mary's can now only reach 15 league points, if they win their three remaining conference games.

Chris Johnson, Aaron Johnson * and Chad Georgell * (Sr., North Pole, Alaska/Fairbanks Lathrop HS) had a goal and assist apiece for the Auggies, who have now won four of their last five games.

Tony Janssen (Fr., Superior, Wis.) scored both goals on the power play for Concordia, now 6-16-0 overall, 2-11-0 in MIAC play. The teams complete the MIAC series on Saturday (2/17) at 2:15 p.m. at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

Augsburg outshot Concordia by a 42-20 margin, including a 17-7 edge in the first period and 16-5 edge in the third frame. Andy Kent (So., Lakeville, Minn.) collected 18 saves for the win for the Auggies, while Mike Persson (Fr., Regina, Saskatchewan) took the loss for the Cobbers with 36 saves.

Georgell opened the scoring for Augsburg, scoring from Kellen Chamblee (So., Falcon Heights, Minn./Roseville HS) at the 10:38 mark of the first period. Concordia tied the game on a 5-on-3 power play at the 2:11 mark of the second frame, as Janssen scored from Mark Buchholz (Sr., Moorhead, Minn.) and Cory Johnson (So., Moorhead, Minn.). But Augsburg took the lead just 16 seconds later, as Nagurski scored a shorthanded goal from Chris Johnson. Janssen tied the game again for the Cobbers with the extra skater at the 10:28 mark, scoring from Knut Bitustoeyl (Fr., Asker, Norway) and Casey Olson (Fr., Rock Springs, Wyo.).

Augsburg's third-period outburst started with May's power-play goal from Tom Doyle (Sr., St. Paul, Minn./Como Park HS) at the 6:23 mark, followed at the 8:47 mark by Nagurski's second goal of the game, a power-play tally from Aaron Johnson * and A.J. Hau (Fr., Fort Collins, Colo.). Chris Johnson scored from Brett Way (So., Grand Ledge, Mich.) and Nagurski at the 16:31 mark, and Aaron Johnson * completed the scoring with a delayed-penalty goal at the 17:49 mark.