MINNEAPOLIS -- Behind a three-goal, seven-point hat trick from Lionel Vang (SR, Little Canada, Minn./Roseville HS), the Augsburg University men's soccer team scored the first four goals of the game, en route to an important 4-2 home victory over Saint John's University in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Wednesday evening.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 4, Saint John's 2
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 7-5-2 overall (2-4-0 MIAC), Saint John's 8-5-0 overall (4-3-0 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Vang figured in the scoring in all four Augsburg goals, as the Auggies gained three important conference points in pursuit of a spot in the six-team MIAC postseason playoffs.
• In the 19th minute, Vang served a corner kick from the right side across the goal, which Daniel Hedstrom (SR, Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS) headed home for his third goal of the season.
• Hedstrom returned the favor to Vang in the 41st minute, as the defender served the ball from beyond midfield to an open Vang, who moved down the left wing and threaded a shot to the top right corner of the goal to give the Auggies a 2-0 lead.
• In the 68th minute, Vang scored his second goal of the game, taking a service from the center by Nick Zuchowski (SO, Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) and scoring on a slicing shot across the box.
• Vang scored his hat trick in the 79th minute on his third penalty kick goal of the season and sixth of his career, after the Johnnies were whistled for a handball in the penalty box.
• Augsburg had a nearly perfect first half, dominating possession by a 61-39 percent advantage. The Auggies outshot the Johnnies by a 13-7 margin in the first half, but did not allow a single Johnnie shot on-goal in the half. Saint John's outshot Augsburg by a 10-5 margin in the second half and scored two goals in the final 10 minutes of play to cut the Auggie lead in half. The Auggies ended up with an 18-17 shots advantage and a 60-40 percent advantage in possession time.
• Goalkeeper Garrett Kaelin (SR, Stillwater, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) had two saves for the Auggies. Vang had seven shots in the game, while Nick Vergara (JR, Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) and Johnny Vu (JR, Maplewood, Minn./Roseville HS) had four shots each.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Vang's hat trick, the first of his collegiate career, is the first for an Augsburg player since Josh Sweeney scored three goals in a 7-1 win at Bethel on Sept. 14, 2011. Vang's career-high seven-point effort is the most for an Auggie since Ahmed Gobana had seven points (two goals, three assists) in the same 2011 Augsburg win at Bethel.
• Wednesday's scoring effort marked Vang's third multi-goal game and 22nd multi-point game of his 65-game collegiate career. He has a career-high seven multi-point games this season.
• In 65 career games, Vang now has 25 goals and 16 assists for 66 career points. He is now tied for fifth place in school history in career points and career assists, and is now in sixth place in career goals. He has a team-best eight goals and seven assists for 23 points this season, tied for fifth among MIAC players in overall goals, tied for fourth in points and fifth in assists.

FOR THE FOES
• Ben Becker scored in the 80th minute and Kagan Foster scored in the 87th minute for the Johnnies.
• Saint John's goalie Nicholas French had three saves.

QUOTES FROM AUGSBURG HEAD COACH GREG HOLKER
• "For the first 30 minutes, we put together some really good soccer. The guys were spinning the ball everywhere, and moving our opponent to get where we wanted to be. It was arguably our best performance of the season in that window of time. Conversely, the final 10 minutes were way too loose and chaotic, especially against such an athletic, high scoring team like Saint John's. Those guys are powerful and can make goals out of nothing, so for us to drop our level of concentration was disappointing. We must stay sharp every minute of every day moving forward. We are up against the wall, no question about it. Because of that, we have to stay the aggressor at all times."
• "The real story here is that Lionel Vang is at another level. It's his first hat trick, but he gets it against a quality opponent. I haven't seen a better player yet this season, and we have seen some really good ones in and out of our league."
• "In addition, our midfield was calm and efficient, and that gave us the edge we needed. Spencer Enright was tremendous in his first start in midfield. Nick Vergara was a handful in his debut up top, barely missing a few chances. Herbert Carrera was tremendous at left back on both sides of the ball. He shook off some early jitters and really made a difference. With Drew Collins playing 90, we had three first-years really influencing the game."

UP NEXT
• Augsburg travels to face Bethel in another key MIAC game on Saturday (10/19) at 1 p.m.
• Saint John's hosts St. Olaf on Sunday (10/20) at 12 p.m.