Alex Rodriguez moves the puck up the ice during a 2017-18 Augsburg men's hockey game.
Kevin Healy
3
Winner Augsburg University AUG 1-0-0
0
St. Olaf College STO 0-1-1
Winner
Augsburg University AUG
1-0-0
3
Final
0
St. Olaf College STO
0-1-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Augsburg University AUG 0 1 2 3
St. Olaf College STO 0 0 0 0

Game Recap: Men's Ice Hockey |

Hat trick for Rodriguez in season-opening 3-0 win

BLAINE, Minn. -- Alex Rodriguez (SR, Miami, Fla./Shattuck-St. Mary's (Minn.) HS) claimed his first collegiate hat trick, scoring all three goals in the Augsburg University men's hockey team's 3-0, season-opening victory over St. Olaf College at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Showcase on Friday evening.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 3, St. Olaf 0
LOCATION: Schwan SuperRink, Blaine, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 1-0-0 overall, St. Olaf 0-1-0 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Rodriguez opened the scoring with a goal at the 8:05 mark of the second period, assisted by Chandler Madry (SR, Bakersfield, Calif./Fairbanks (Alaska) BEST HS) and Matt Hines (FY, Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins HS).
• Rodriguez then scored twice in the second period to cap his first college hat trick, scoring from Lucas Niezelski (FY, Manchester, Conn./East Catholic HS) at the 15:27 mark, and capping the night with an empty-net goal, assisted by Matt Nehls (SO, Boulder, Colo./D.C. West HS) with three seconds left to play.
• Augsburg held a 28-21 shots on-goal advantage in the game, including a 22-13 advantage in the first two periods. Rodriguez had six shots, while John O'Connor (JR, Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead HS) had five shots. Nehls and Eric Brenk (SR, Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead HS) had three shots each.
• Entering the game midway through the first period in relief of starter Nick Schmit (SR, Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS), goalie Daniil Gerasimov (SO, Moscow, Russia/State School 1944) claimed his second career victory in his third collegiate appearnace, finishing the final 49:22 and stopping all 17 shots he faced. Schmidt had four saves in the opening 10:38.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• NCAA Division III national playoff quarterfinalists each of the last three seasons after winning MIAC playoff titles, Augsburg entered the 2018-19 season ranked in both major Division III preseason rankings -- No. 12 in the USCHO national poll, and No. 11 in the D3hockey.com national poll.

FOR THE FOES
• Noah Parker had 25 saves in goal for St. Olaf.
• Tuukka Totro and Luke Ranallo had three shots each for the Oles.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg will face St. Olaf on Saturday (10/27) at 7:30 p.m. at the MIAC Showcase at the Schwan SuperRink in Blaine.
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