MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. -- Augsburg College built a 4-0 second-period led, then held off a University of St. Thomas comeback for a 5-3 win on Friday night, leapfrogging the Tommies into a tie for first place in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's hockey standings, clinching a spot in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs in the process.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 5, St. Thomas 3
LOCATION: St. Thomas Ice Arena, Mendota Heights, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 14-3-5 overall (8-1-4 MIAC), St. Thomas 11-7-4 overall (9-3-1 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Augsburg built a 4-0 lead midway through the second period, but St. Thomas rallied to cut the lead to 4-3 halfway through the third period. The Auggies claimed an empty-net goal in the closing seconds to clinch the important win in the opener of this weekend's MIAC series with the Tommies.
• Augsburg struck first at the 14:25 mark of the first period, when Drew Anderson (JR, Rochester, Minn./Century HS) scored from Evan Hesse (JR, Monticello, Minn./Palmer (Alaska) HS) and Eric Brenk (SO, Moorhead, Minn.). 
• Augsburg scored three goals in a 3:56 span in the second, including two goals in a 38-second span. Corbin Chapman (SR, Burnsville, Minn.) scored at the 7:24 mark from Luke Dietsch (SO, St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) and Nate Flynn (JR, Hastings, Minn.), and Dylan Meier (SR, Highlands Park, Colo./Mountain Vista HS) scored from Lukas Gillett (SO, Rosemount, Minn.) and Chris Nuth (SR, Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista HS) at the 8:02 mark. Eric Brenk (SO, Moorhead, Minn.) gave the Auggies a 4-0 lead with his 10th goal of the year, an unassisted marker at the 11:20 mark.
• The Tommies clawed back into the game to trail by one goal in the closing minutes, but Flynn clinched the win for the Auggies with an unassisted, empty-net goal at the 19:54 mark of the third period, his team-leading 13th goal of the year.
• Augsburg outshot St. Thomas by a 37-33 margin. Jordyn Kaufer (SR, Stillwater, Minn.) had 30 saves in goal for the Auggies. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• With the win, Augsburg, ranked No. 11 in the latest USCHO.com Division III national poll, moved past the Tommies (28 points) into a first-place tie in the MIAC standings with Saint Mary's (13-8-3 overall, 9-5-1 MIAC), both with 29 points.
• Augsburg, Saint Mary's and St. Thomas all clinched berths in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs on Friday. The defending MIAC regular-season and playoff champions, Augsburg will be competing in its third straight MIAC postseason playoff.
• Augsburg Head Coach Chris Brown claimed his 200th career victory on Friday. In his 16th year of college coaching, Brown is now 200-181-33 in his career, including a 131-125-25 record in 11 years at Augsburg.
• Flynn now has 13 goals on the season, tied for third-most among MIAC players in overall statistics. Brenk is tied for sixth among MIAC players with his 10 goals. In total points, Flynn's 21 points are seventh-most among MIAC players, and he has nine points (seven goals, two assists) in his last seven games.
• Augsburg has outscored its opponents by an 85-54 margin, with its 85 goals the most among MIAC teams in overall statistics, and the 54 goals allowed second-fewest among MIAC teams, a goal behind St. Thomas' 53 allowed.

FOR THE FOES
• Brett Gravelle scored the first two Tommie goals of the game -- a power-play marker from Charlie Donlin and Brian LeBlanc at the 14:57 mark of the second period, and a goal from Jonny Panvica at the 4:02 mark of the third period.
• Thomas Williams cut the lead to 4-3 with a power-play goal at the 11:30 mark of the third period, assisted by Jimmy Kortum and Chris Benson.
• Benjamin Myers had 32 saves in goal for St. Thomas.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg and St. Thomas complete the MIAC series on Saturday (2/11) at 7 p.m. at Ed Saugestad Rink.