BOXSCORE BLAINE, Minn. -- Niklas Almstrom (JR, Medina, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's HS) and Andrew Allen (FY, Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley HS) scored two goals apiece, leading the Augsburg College men's hockey team to its fourth victory in its last five games, a 9-4 triumph over host Bethel University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest on Friday evening at the Schwan SuperRink.

Fifteen of the 18 skaters for Augsburg (7-12-3 overall, 5-6-2 MIAC) figured in the scoring, marking the third time this season that Augsburg has scored seven or more goals. In its last seven games, Augsburg is now 4-1-2, and has outscored its opponents by a 24-15 margin in those games.

With the victory, Augsburg remains in the hunt for a spot in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs. Augsburg has 12 league points (two points for a win, one for a tie) with three league games remaining. After Friday's play, there are five MIAC teams that have between 12 and 14 points, from fourth place down in the league standings. Bethel is now 7-15-0 overall, 6-7-0 in MIAC play.

Augsburg built leads of 4-1 after the first period and 7-3 after the second period en route to the victory, with seven different Auggies scoring goals.

Ben McClellan (SO, Cottage Grove, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) opened the scoring with his team-best 10th goal of the season, an unassisted goal, at the 8:08 mark of the first period. Eight seconds later, Almstrom scored from Lucas Hendrickson (FY, Savage, Minn./Burnsville HS) and Mack Ohnsted (FY, Vernon Hills, Ill./Adali E. Stevenson HS).

Bethel cut into the lead with a goal from Garrett Windle at the 12:13 mark of the opening frame, but Augsburg scored twice in a 1:29 span, as Thomas Paine (SO, Superior, Wis./Duluth (Minn.) Marshall HS) scored from Carl Krieger (FY, Oakdale, Minn./Tartan HS) and Chris Student (JR, Edina, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's HS) at the 14:25 mark, followed by Allen's goal from Daniel Hildebrandt (SO, Monument, Colo./Pine Creek HS) and Landon Olson (SR, Alexandria, Minn./Duluth Marshall HS) at the 15:54 mark.

Josh Freitas scored at the 4:03 mark of the second period for the Royals, but Augsburg built the lead to 5-2 with a goal from Tim Serratore (JR, Colorado Springs, Colo./Pine Creek HS), assisted by Scott Eberline (JR, Northville, Mich./Novi HS) and Erik Ordahl (JR, Rochester, Minn./Century HS), at the 8:05 mark. Tony Larson scored for the Royals at the 10:43 mark, but Augsburg scored twice in a 2:18 span, as #B.J. McClellan# (JR, Cottage Grove, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) scored from Student at the 15:31 mark, and Almstrom scored from Hildebrandt at the 17:49 mark.

Ryan Townsend scored a shorthanded goal for Bethel at the 1:39 mark of the third period, but the Auggies closed the game with two more goal, as Krieger scored from Paine at the 7:04 mark, and Allen scored from Zach Dick (SO, Grand Rapids, Minn.) and Hildebrandt with four seconds remaining in the game.

Bethel outshot Augsburg by a 29-24 margin. Justin Lochner (SR, Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice HS) had 25 saves in goal for Augsburg. Steven Bolton had seven saves in the first period for the Royals, with Dan Harper claiming eight saves over the last two periods.

The teams will complete the MIAC series on Saturday (2/9) at 7:05 p.m. at Ed Saugestad Rink.