BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS -- Scoring all three of its goals on special-team situations, the Augsburg College men's hockey team completed a series sweep of St. John's University with a 3-1 victory in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game on Saturday night at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

John Lennartson (SO, Burnsville, Minn.) scored a shorthanded goal on an unassisted break in the first period, and Jim Jensen (JR, Plymouth, Minn./Osseo HS) and Chris Johnson (SR, Verona, Wis./Madison Memorial HS) scored power-play goals for Augsburg (6-3-1 overall, 2-1-1 MIAC), which stretched its winning streak to four straight games and its unbeaten string to five games (4-0-1)

Grant Ellena (SO, Coon Rapids, Minn.) had the lone goal for St. John's (4-7-1 overall, 1-5-0 MIAC).

The Johnnies outshot Augsburg by a 24-20 margin, but Auggie goalie Justin Lochner (FY, Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice HS) claimed 23 saves in goal to collect his fourth victory of the season. Johnnie goalie Stu Van Ess (SR, Kewaskum, Wis.) had 17 saves in a losing effort.

Augsburg jumped on the scoreboard at the 9:40 mark of the first period, as Lennartson scored his first goal of the season on an unassisted, shorthanded break. The Auggies made the score 2-0 just 2:11 later, as Jensen scored from Kris Reinthaler (FY, Graz, Austria/Spring Creek Academy (Texas) HS) and Mario Mjelleli (JR, Faribault, Minn./Shattuck-St. Mary's HS).

St. John's trimmed the lead to 2-1 midway through the second period, as Ellena scored from Pat McClure (JR, Maple Plain, Minn.) and Mike Wallgren (JR, Oakdale, Minn.), but the Auggies got an insurance goal late in the second frame, as Johnson scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season, a power-play marker from Nick Guran (SO, McHenry, Ill./McHenry East HS) and Reinthaler.

The Auggies are now idle for the holiday break, and return to action with a nonconference game at Finlandia (Mich.) on Jan. 5.