MINNEAPOLIS -- Goalkeeper Christian Hodges (FY, New Albany, Ohio/Tree of Life Christian School) made nine saves, including an incredible set of saves on a penalty kick early in the second half, as Augsburg University remained unbeaten and unscored upon with a 1-0 nonconference men's soccer triumph over Wartburg College on Sunday afternoon.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 1, Wartburg (Iowa) 0
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 5-0-0 overall, Wartburg 1-2-1 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Two key moments stood out in what was a relatively evenly-matched contest. The first came three minutes into the second half, when a Wartburg attacker was fouled on a break, earning a corner kick. The penalty kick by Aidan Mott was saved as Hodges dove to his right, and a subsequent rebound shot was again saved by a prone Hodges. 
• The second key moment came in the 67th minute, as Auggie newcomer Carver Tierney (SR, Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) scored his eighth goal of the season, a total that leads all NCAA Division III men's soccer players nationally. Remus Repcak (JR, Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin HS) gained the ball at midfield following a Wartburg free kick, and sent a long pass to Tierney, who made a couple of nifty moves in the 18-yard box and deposited the ball in the net to give the Auggies the lead.
• Augsburg held a 15-12 advantage in shots in the game, and Auggie goalkeeper Hodges stopped all nine shots on-goal he faced for his fourth solo shutout of the season. Hodges has played in all but 19:35 of the Auggies' action in goal so far this season, and has saved all 15 shots he has faced.
• Augsburg's defense was particularly stout, especially after the Auggie goal, when it fended off several Knight attempts. The backfield threesome of Jeffrey Richter (SR, Portland, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep HS), Cole Pettit (JR, Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet HS) and Eric Riera (Jr, Fridley, Minn./Columbia Heights HS) all played 80-plus minutes. The defense also prevented Wartburg from scoring on 10 corner kicks in the game.

QUOTES FROM AUGSBURG COACH GREG HOLKER
• "Christian Hodges saved our butts -- twice. We gave away a silly penalty, and that's the second game in a row we've faced one and the second time we've come out without any damage done. Christian's first save was good, as the penalty wasn't that well hit, but the rebound was insane -- he was a big cat getting up and flying at the shooter to send it well clear of our goal."
• "Overall, we were not very sharp today. We struggled on the ball, giving it away cheaply and failing to hold possession. Wartburg played a role in that for portions, but much of it we did to ourselves. We conceded what felt like a dozen corner kicks, but we won all of them in no small part to Cole Pettit. That being said, good teams find ways to win when things aren't going as they would prefer, and we have Remus Repcak and Carver Tierney to thank for making that goal happen."
• "We need some time to recover and get our starters back, but just don't have it with these short, condensed seasons. We are fortunate to have such a deep bench that continues to play a massive role in our early season results. I thought Gideon Lubin and Chakong Vang were particularly good today, and Anson Karn did what was needed for us in his minutes at right back."
• "Wednesday we host one of the best teams in the country in UW-Eau Claire, who is off to another strong start after making a run to the Elite 8 last fall in the NCAA championships."

FOR THE FOES
• Wartburg goalkeeper Henry Eckert had six saves.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg hosts the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the opener of a men's and women's doubleheader on Wednesday (9/10) at 5 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field.