MINNEAPOLIS -- Forward Luke Dietsch (SR, St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) claimed his third collegiate hat trick and second of this season, scoring three goals to lead top-seed Augsburg University to an 8-1 victory over No. 5-seed Saint Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's hockey playoff semifinal game on Saturday evening at Ed Saugestad Rink. With the win, the Auggies will play in the conference's playoff championship game for the fourth straight season.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 8, Saint Mary's 1
LOCATION: Ed Saugestad Rink, Minneapolis, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 20-3-3 overall, Saint Mary's 9-15-3 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Leading 2-1 after one period, Augsburg scored six unanswered goals, including five in the second period, to cruise to the victory. Augsburg outshot Saint Mary's by a 50-21 margin -- matching a season-high for shots on-goal -- including a 24-3 advantage in the five-goal second period.
• Augsburg scored twice in a 1:43 span early in the first period, with Dietsch and Jake Larson (SR, St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS) scoring goals. Saint Mary's (9-15-3 overall) cut the lead to 2-1 on a power-play goal at the 19:58 mark of the opening frame.
• Opening the second period, Augsburg jumped ahead with three goals -- two on the power play -- in a 3:30 span, with Alex Rodriguez (SR, Miami, Fla./Shattuck-St. Mary's (Minn.) HS), Gavin Holland (FY, Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS) and Dietsch scoring goals. Lucas Niezelski (FY, Manchester, Conn./East Catholic HS) scored midway through the second, and Dietsch capped his hat trick with a power-play goal at the 19:01 mark.
• Rodriguez scored his MIAC-leading 20th goal of the season, and second of the game, to cap the scoring at the 5:07 mark of the third period. Rodriguez's 20 goals are tied for fifth-most among NCAA Division III players nationally, and his 37 points (20 goals, 17 assists) are second-most among MIAC players.
• Twelve different Auggies figured in the scoring. Austin Dollimer (FY, Rosemount, Minn./Rosemount HS) had four assists for the Auggies, while Eric Brenk (SR, Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead HS) had three assists, and Jason Krych (JR, Champlin, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) and Chandler Madry (SR, Bakersfield, Calif./Fairbanks (Alaska) BEST HS) had two assists each.
• Nick Schmit (SR, Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) had 17 saves in 52 minutes to claim the win in goal, improving to 15-2-3 on the season. Daniil Gerasimov (SO, Moscow, Russia/State School 1944) recorded three saves in relief.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• The No. 1 seed in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs, Augsburg will attempt to win an unprecedented fourth straight MIAC men's hockey postseason title in the championship game next Saturday (3/2) at 7 p.m., hosting No. 2-seed Saint John's (12-9-5 overall) at Ed Saugestad Rink. Saint John's advanced to the title game with a 4-1 win over No. 3-seed St. Thomas on Saturday afternoon. It will be the third time Augsburg has hosted the playoff title game in a four-season span. The winner will receive the MIAC's automatic bid to the 12-team NCAA Division III national tournament.
• Augsburg is ranked No. 6 in the latest D3hockey.com Division III national poll and No. 8 in the latest USCHO.com Division III national poll.
• Dietsch now has 14 goals on the season, tied for fifth-most among MIAC players. His 29 points are tied with teammate Madry for fifth among MIAC players. Madry's 19 assists are tied for third-most in the MIAC. 
• Augsburg has now outscored its opponents by a 104-56 margin, with its scoring offense average (4.00 per-game) and scoring defense (2.15 per-game) both tops among MIAC teams. Augsburg is now ninth among NCAA Division III teams nationally in scoring offense and 16th in scoring defense. Just 12 Division III teams have scored 100 or more goals this season.
• Augsburg's eight goals are its most scored in a game since a 10-2 home win over Concordia-Moorhead on Jan. 21, 2017.
• Augsburg went 4-for-5 on the power play, with the four power play goals its most scored a game since the Auggies went 4-for-8 in an 8-2 win at Wisconsin-Superior on Dec. 7, 2012.

FOR THE FOES
• Kyle Meeh scored a power-play goal for Saint Mary's at the 19:58 mark of the first period, assisted by Jack Stang and Dylan Robertson.
• Nick Nast had 17 saves in 26 minutes for the Cardinals, with Al Rogers recording 25 saves in 34 minutes of relief.