MINNEAPOLIS -- Matching its longest winning streak to open a season since the 1981-82 campaign, the Augsburg University men's hockey team improved to 8-0-0 with a 5-1 victory over Saint Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest on Saturday at Ed Saugestad Rink.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 5, Saint Mary's 1
LOCATION: Ed Saugestad Rink, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 8-0-0 overall (4-0-0 MIAC), Saint Mary's 2-5-1 overall (1-2-1 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Alex Rodriguez (JR, Miami, Fla./Shattuck-St. Mary's (Minn.) HS) paced another balanced scoring attack with a two-goal effort to lead the Auggies. In all, 10 different Auggies figured in the scoring, with Nate Flynn (SR, Hastings, Minn./Hastings HS) and Paul Soubry (JR, Winnipeg, Manitoba/St. Paul's HS) claiming a goal and assist each, and Chandler Madry (JR, Bakersfield, Calif./Fairbanks (Alaska) BEST HS) and John O'Connor (SO, Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead HS) claiming two assists each.
• Augsburg surrendered the first goal of the game early in the second period, but rallied back from there, with two goals in the second period and three goals in a 5:53 span in the third period.
• Soubry tied the game with a goal from John O'Connor and Will Peterson (SR, Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) at the 9:29 mark of the second period, and Rodriguez gave the Auggies the leasd with a goal from Madry and Soubry at the 13:47 mark.
• In the third period, Rodriguez scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Madry and O'Connor, at the 8:45 mark, Flynn scored from Luke Dietsch (JR, St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) and Drew Anderson (SR, Rochester, Minn./Century HS) at the 10:11 mark, and Jake Larson (JR, St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS) scored from Flynn and Max Pernhem (SR, Stockholm, Sweden/Dragonskolan) at the 14:38 mark.
• For the second straight game, Augsburg was outshot by Saint Mary's, this time by a 32-29 margin, but Nick Schmit (JR, Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced to pick up the victory, improving to 8-0-0 on the year.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Augsburg's 8-0-0 start is its third season-opening unbeaten streak of eight games or more in the last five campaigns. Augsburg opened the season 8-0-1 in both the 2016-17 and 2013-14 seasons. The eight straight wins are the most consecutive to start a season for the Auggies since an eight-game winning streak to open the 1981-82 NAIA national championship season (28-1-1). Augsburg opened the year 9-0-1 before suffering its only loss that season. 
• Augsburg is one of just five NCAA Division III men's hockey teams that are unbeaten and untied so far this season, and the lone team with eight wins. St. Norbert is 6-0-0, and Worcester State (Mass.) is 6-0-0. Trinity (Conn.) is now 2-0-0 after its season-opening weekend, and Colby (Maine) opened its season with a win on Saturday. Stevenson (Md.) is also unbeaten, but has two ties (4-0-2). 
• Augsburg has outscored its opponents by a 39-13 margin in its first six games, and its 4.88 goals per-game average is fourth-best among all NCAA Division III teams. Augsburg has scored three or more goals in each of its eight games. Augsburg's 1.62 goals allowed per-game average is ninth-best in Division III.
• Augsburg has five of the top seven point-scorers in the MIAC's overall statistics, with Dietsch leading the way with 12 points (four goals, eight assists), Flynn (five goals, six assists) and Madry (two goals, nine assists) tied for second with 11 points, Rodriguez in third with 10 points (four goals, six assists) and Anderson tied for fifth with nine points (one goal, eight assists). Madry's nine assists lead the MIAC.
• Augsburg is ranked No. 3 in the latest USCHO.com Division III national poll, and No. 8 in the D3hockey.com national poll.

FOR THE FOES
• Jared Johnson opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal from Jay Heinle and Ben Owen at the 4:29 mark of the second period.
• Nick Nast had 24 saves in goal for Saint Mary's.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg is idle during Thanksgiving weekend, and returns to action Dec. 1-2 with a series against St. Thomas. The Friday, Dec. 1 game is at 7 p.m. at Ed Saugestad Rink, and the Saturday, Dec. 2 game is at 7 p.m. at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn.
• Saint Mary's has a nonconference series next Friday and Saturday (11/24-25) against Lake Forest (Ill.) in Winona, Minn.