MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. (Augustana) – The Augustana hockey team (4-4, 1-1 CCHA) finished the weekend with a 3-2 win over St. Thomas (2-4-1, 1-1 CCHA) Saturday night to earn its first-ever points as full-fledged members of the CCHA. Joey DelGreco and Tyler Hennen recorded their first collegiate goals while Josh Kotai turned away 38 shots and moved to 4-3 on the season.
Augustana opened up the scoring early in the first period as DelGreco fired in a backdoor tap-in off a pass from Simon Falk. The Vikings’ goal came off a fastbreak set up by Colton Friesen who pushed the puck forward to Falk. Seven minutes after the opening goal, Ryan O’Neill evened the score for the Tommies with a one-timer on the power play. St. Thomas killed three straight penalties in the first period to keep the game tied at 1-1.
Augustana ran into penalty issues early in the second period, as it was forced to kill off a five-on-three-man advantage. Augustana carried momentum after the penalty kill and regained its lead off a goal from Brett Meerman who fired in his second of the season from below the faceoff dot. It didn’t take long for St. Thomas to answer with a goal of its own as Liam Malmquist netted his third of the season while the Tommies were shorthanded.
In a tightly contested battle throughout the third period, T. Hennen broke the deadlock as he ripped in his first collegiate goal off a pass from Payton Matsui. The Tommies looked to even the score with 1:17 remaining in the final frame as they pulled Aaron Trotter but Kotai and the Augustana defense stood tall to secure its first CCHA points in program history.
Game Moments
- DelGreco and T. Hennen scored their first collegiate goals in Saturday’s win.
- Kotai turned away a season-high 38 shots in his fourth win of the season.
- Brady Ziemer soaked a game-high five shots as the Vikings blocked 14 shots in total.
- Nine Vikings totaled at least one point in the win.
- Augustana killed off five of six penalties.
Goals
- Friesen dished the puck up to Falk for a two-on-one break that was finished off with a tap-in goal by DelGreco.
- O’Neill evened the score with a power-play goal off passes from Chase Foley and Malmquist.
- Meerman regained the lead with his second goal of the season off passes from Owen Bohn and Luke Mobley.
- Malmquist netted his third of the season while the Tommies were shorthanded.
- T. Hennen collected his first goal off a dish from Matsui and Drotts.
Up Next
Augustana returns to Midco Arena next weekend as it faces CCHA opponent Bemidji State on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 9 at 6:07 p.m.. Tickets are still available at GoAugie.com/Live.
