Men's Hockey 2/13/09 -- Augsburg 6, St. Mary's 2
MINNEAPOLIS (2/13/09) -- Jim Jensen (SO, Plymouth, Minn./Osseo HS) had two goals and two assists for a four-point night, and Nick Guran (FY, McHenry, Ill./McHenry East HS) had two goals and one assist, as Augsburg College claimed its fifth straight victory with a 6-2 triumph over visiting St. Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's hockey game on Friday night at the Augsburg Ice Arena.
Mario Mjelleli (SO, Faribault, Minn./Shattuck-St. Mary's HS) had a four-assist evening for Augsburg (8-14-0 overall, 7-6-0 MIAC), while Chris Johnson (JR, Verona, Wis./Madison Memorial HS) scored a goal and Bryan Frischmann (SO, Rochester, Minn./Century HS) had two assists.
With the win, Augsburg moves into a tie for fourth place in the MIAC standings with Hamline (12-9-1 overall, 7-6-0 MIAC), which lost 3-2 to St. John's on Friday, and Bethel (11-11-1 overall, 7-7-0 MIAC), which is idle this weekend. The top five teams in the MIAC standings after the regular season ends next weekend qualify for the postseason playoffs.
Steve Murphy (JR, Anchorage, Alaska) scored both goals for St. Mary's (3-18-1 overall, 2-10-1 MIAC), with Jeff Miller (JR, Portage, Mich.) and Morgan Shepherd (JR, Brainerd, Minn.) assisting on both goals.
After giving up a goal just 1:31 into the game, Augsburg responded with five straight goals to build a commanding lead. Trevor Doden (FY, Red Wing, Minn.) scored from David Hines (FY, Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Tech HS) and Frischmann at the 8:55 mark of the first period to tie the game, and Guran scored his first goal, from Mjelleli and Jensen, with 22 seconds left in the first period.
Johnson scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season, and his sixth power-play marker of the year, at the 2:29 mark of the second period from Joel Sauer (SO, Madison, Wis./Memorial HS), while Jensen scored from Mjelleli and Guran at the 6:53 mark, and Guran scored from Mjelli and Jensen at the 10:48 mark.
St. Mary's cut into the lead with Murphy's second goal of the game in the final minute of the second period, and Jensen capped the scoring with his 10th goal of the season, from Frischmann and Mjelleli, on the power play late in the third period.
Augsburg goalie Andrew Kent (SR, Lakeville, Minn.) claimed 25 saves in net for the victory, as Augsburg claimed a 36-27 advantage in shots-on-goal. Karac Davis (SR, Pittsburgh, Pa.) made 25 saves in goal for St. Mary's.
The teams complete the MIAC series on Saturday (2/14) at 7 p.m. in Winona.
