ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Two goals in the opening 26 minutes of play lifted the University of St. Thomas to a 2-0 win over visiting Augsburg University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer game on Tuesday afternoon.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: St. Thomas 2, Augsburg 0
LOCATION: UST South Field, St. Paul, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 8-8-1 overall (3-5-1 MIAC), St. Thomas 16-1-0 overall (9-0-0 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Tommies, ranked No. 5 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division III national poll, scored in the 10th and 26th minutes to remain unbeaten in MIAC play, clinching the MIAC regular-season title after second-place Macalester lost to Saint John's on Tuesday evening.
• Augsburg was outshot by a 15-7 margin, including a 12-3 margin in the first half. The Tommies also had seven corner kicks to Augsburg's two.
• Lionel Vang (SO, Little Canada, Minn./Roseville HS) had three shots, including two on-goal, for the Auggies, while  Ebesa Hamid (JR, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia/Addis International School) and Tommy Picka (FY, Victoria, Minn./Chaska HS) also had shots on-goal. 
• Thomas Molski (SR, Woodbury, Minn./North St. Paul HS) had six saves in goal for Augsburg.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• With the loss, Augsburg fell a point behind Saint John's (6-7-2 overall, 3-4-2 MIAC), in pursuit of a berth in the six-team MIAC postseason playoffs for the second year in a row. The Johnnies have 11 points, while the Auggies have 10 points. To reach the playoffs, Augsburg, which lost to Saint John's 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 26, must win its final game of the regular season, facing St. Olaf (3-13-1 overall, 2-6-1 MIAC) on Saturday (10/28), while Saint John's must either tie or lose in its regular-season finale, hosting Carleton (10-6-1 overall, 4-4-1 MIAC).

FOR THE FOES
• Shae Bottum scored on a corner kick in the 10th minute, and Will Kidd scored from Tyler Oliver and Christian Elliehausen in the 26th minute.
• Aidan Hogan had four saves in goal for the Tommies.

QUOTES FROM AUGSBURG HEAD COACH GREG HOLKER
• "We were up against it in the first half into a stiff wind, and that made it difficult to play for sure. They scored directly on a corner kick - it was weird. Shae bent it in, the wind took it more, there was some chaos in front of Tommy -- and in the end he misjudged it. Weird goal, but that was tough to concede."
• "We grabbed a little of the game after that and started imposing possession for good spurts, and then they hit us on the break. They are such a complete team, and we were not in spots we should have been, which led to an early entry ball. Then Will Kidd's movement in the box was so smart and his finish was top class in the lower corner." 
• "In the second half, we were much better and imposed ourselves a bit. Our outside backs were tremendous and our center backs really slammed the door on any chance of a counter attack, which allowed us to take some territory. In the end, we failed to break them down and they did what they needed to clinch the title." 
• "We need Carleton to take points at Saint John's Saturday to give us any chance of getting in the postseason. If we get the help we need earlier in the day, we are going to need the support of our alumni and families on Saturday evening for sure. It's gonna be cold (might snow) and the conditions will be brutal, but we need all the help we can get from our students and fans."

UP NEXT
• Augsburg hosts St. Olaf on Saturday (10/28) at 5 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field.
• St. Thomas plays at Bethel on Saturday at 1 p.m.