MINNEAPOLIS -- Nate Flynn (JR, Hastings, Minn.) scored the game-winning goal 1:56 into overtime, lifting the Augsburg College men's hockey team to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff championship game with a 5-4 victory over Saint Mary's University in a semifinal matchup on Saturday evening.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 5, Saint Mary's 4 (OT)
LOCATION: Ed Saugestad Rink, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 16-4-6 overall, Saint Mary's 13-10-3 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Augsburg had to rally twice from deficits to force overtime -- first from a 2-0 first-period deficit, then from a 4-3 deficit 74 seconds into the third period -- in order to advance to the MIAC playoff title game for the second straight year.
• Dylan Meier (SR, Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista HS) put the Auggies on the scoreboard with a goal from Paul Soubry (SO, Winnipeg, Manitoba/St. Mary's HS) at the 14:18 mark of the first period.
• The Cardinals took a 3-1 advantage early in the second period, but Augsburg tied the game with a pair of goals in a 3:41 span -- Eric Brenk (SO, Moorhead, Minn.) scoring his team-leading 16th goal of the season from Trevor Stewart (SR, Highlands Ranch, Colo./Eastmont HS) and Andy Faust (JR, Stillwater, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) at the 7:15 mark, and Stewart scoring from Faust and Brenk at the 10:56 mark.
• The Cardinals again took the lead early in the third period, but Augsburg tied the game at 4-4 at the 13:27 mark, when Chris Nuth (SR, Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Mission Viejo HS) scored from Eli May (JR, Eagan, Minn.) and Meier. 
• Flynn gave the Auggies the win on an unassisted goal in overtime -- his third game-winning goal of the season.
• Augsburg outshot Saint Mary's by a 34-32 margin in the game. Stewart had four shots on-goal to lead the Auggies.
• Nick Schmit (SO, Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) had 28 saves in goal to improve to 9-1-2 on the season for Augsburg.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Augsburg, the No. 2 seed in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs, will face top-seed St. Thomas in the playoff championship game next Saturday (3/4) at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. The Tommies advanced to the finals with a 2-1 win over No. 5-seed Concordia-Moorhead on Saturday.
• The game included a 33-minute delay following Nuth's third-period goal, when a shattered glass panel needed to be replaced.
• Schmit now leads the MIAC's overall statistics in all three goalie categories -- goals-against-average (2.01), save percentage (.934) and winning percentage (.833). His save percentage is tied for ninth-best among NCAA Division III goalies nationally, while his GAA is 14th-best.
• Brenk's 16 goals are second-most among MIAC players, with Flynn's 15 goals tied for third-best. Flynn is tied for second among MIAC players in total points (28).
• Augsburg has now outscored its opponents by a 103-69 margin, with its 103 goals most among MIAC teams and its 69 goals allowed second-fewest. Augsburg's 3.96 goals per-game average is 13th-best in Division III.

FOR THE FOES
• Taylor Portner had two goals and an assist to lead Saint Mary's, scoring a shorthanded goal from Jay Heinle at the 2:32 mark of the second period, and scoring from Jared Johnson at the 1:14 mark of the third perid.
• Kyle Meeh scored the opening goal of the game for the Cardinals at the 6:26 mark of the first period, assisted by Portner, and Bob Kinne gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead on a goal from Martin Gruse and Heinle at the 11:37 mark.
• Phil Heinle had 29 saves in goal for Saint Mary's.