MINNEAPOLIS -- Austin Dollimer (SR, Rosemount, Minn./Rosemount HS) scored a pair of goals, and Samuel Vyletelka (SO, Zilina, Slovakia/Grammar School of St. Francis of Assisi) stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced in goal, as the Augsburg University men's hockey team advanced to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff championship game with a 3-1 semifinal win over Saint John's University on Saturday evening.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 3, Saint John's 1
LOCATION: Ed Saugestad Rink, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 15-9-2 overall, Saint John's 13-10-3 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• After a scoreless first period, Augsburg scored twice in the second frame to hold the advantage, and after Saint John's cut the lead to 2-1, the Auggies added an insurance goal to claim the win.
• Vincent Weis (JR, Madison, Wis./Madison Edgewood HS) put the Auggies in front with a goal 4:18 into the second period, firing a blast from the blue line off a faceoff win by Jarod Blackowiak (SR, Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS).
• Down a skater on a Saint John's power play, the Auggies scored their fourth shorthanded goal of the season at the 12:14 mark of the second period. Gavin Holland (SR, Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS) stole the puck in his own zone and fed the puck across to Dollimer, who walked in on a break and fired a wrist shot to the low right corner for his 11th goal of the season.
• Saint John's trimmed the lead to 2-1 with a power-play goal at the 10:18 mark of the second period, but Augsburg clinched the win with Dollimer's second goal of the game just 2:15 later. On an Auggie rush, Dollimer got the puck from Fritz Belisle (SR, Red Wing, Minn./Red Wing HS), worked the puck across the slot, avoiding two Johnnie defenders before popping the puck above the goalie's glove. Dollimer now has a team-best 30 points, with 12 goals and 18 assists on the season. 
• Improving to 11-5-1 on the season in net, Vyletelka claimed 24 saves, including several dramatic saves on scrambles in front of his net.
• Augsburg was outshot by a 35-26 margin by the Johnnies -- just the sixth time Augsburg has been outshot in a game this season.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Making its 21st appearance in the MIAC playoffs and eighth in a row, Augsburg will compete in its eighth playoff title game and sixth in its last seven appearances. Augsburg has won five conference playoff titles in school history (1998, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019).
• Augsburg is now 6-0 all-time in its MIAC playoff meetings with Saint John's.

FOR THE FOES
• Max Borst scored a power-play goal at the 10:18 mark of the third period, scoring from Jackson Sabo and Peter Tabor.
• Bailey Huber had 23 saves in goal for Saint John's.

UP NEXT
• The No. 2 seed in the five-team MIAC playoffs, Augsburg will take on either No. 1-seed St. Scholastica or No. 5 seed St. Olaf in the conference playoff title game next Saturday (3/4) at 7 p.m.