St. Olaf pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the weekend Saturday, stunning No. 6 Augsburg to salvage a split of its two-game series with the Auggies. Jude Hall racked up 31 saves and Tuukka Totro scored the game-winning goal early in the second period to secure the thrilling win.
The Oles have shown a lot of promise since starting the year 0-4. They are 3-4-1 in their last seven games and are now 3-8-1 overall and 1-5 in the MIAC.
Jonas Fredricksson scored the other goal for the Oles, who lost the opener to Augsburg by a 4-2 score. St. Olaf has just one game remaining before its holiday break as it battles Wisconsin-Stout on Saturday before getting a 27-day break.
Augsburg had its nine-game unbeaten streak snapped in the loss. The Auggies are now 8-1-1 overall and 3-1 in the MIAC.
Below is a look at some of the other action from around the western conferences over the weekend.
MIAC
Concordia came through with a crucial sweep of Saint Mary’s, winning 5-1 and 3-2 against a Cardinals team that entered the weekend in first place in the conference. Goalie Sam Nelson played a key role in Saturday’s win. He stopped 38 shots and improved to 4-2 on the season. Nelson, only a freshman, has won its last three games. Bryan Kronberger scored the game-winner late in the second period to break a 2-2 tie and give Concordia the lead for good. Jon Grebosky and Jeremy Johnson both scored for the Cobbers as well.
The Cobbers were particularly tough in penalty kill situations, holding the Cardinals to 1-for-9 showing on the night. Concordia, which won the opener Friday by a 5-1 score thanks to a pair of goals from Jordan Krebsbach, has now won three of its last four games and is in a tie for fourth place in the conference with nine points. Concordia is 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the league.
Saint Mary’s fell to 5-4-2 overall and 4-2 in the MIAC.
St Thomas continued its hot streak against Hamline, sweeping its series with a pair of wins over the Pipers. The Tommies won 3-2 on Friday and capped the series Saturday with a 6-4 win to move into first place in the conference standings.
Friday’s game was memorable in part because coach Jeff Boeser won the 100th game of his career at St. Thomas.
In Saturday’s finale, Benjamin Meyers came through with 37 saves and six different players scored goals as the Tommies stretched their unbeaten streak to seven games. They are 5-0-2 during the stretch. Michael Dockry and Brian LeBlanc each scored a goal and dished out two assists to pave the way Saturday, helping St. Thomas push its record to 6-2-3 overall and 5-1 in the conference.
In the series opener, Dockry and Brett Gravelle both scored in a span of 13 seconds in the second period to give St. Thomas a 2-1 lead.
Hamline falls to 6-3-2 overall and to 3-3 in the league.
NCHA
St. Norbert got all it could handle from Lawrence in a two-game NCHA series. The Green Knights and Vikings played to a 1-1 tie on Friday before St. Norbert earned a 2-1 win in the finale.
Nick Felan scored a goal late in the third period for Lawrence on Friday to tie the game at 1-1. Evan Cline made sure the Green Knights didn’t pull out the win in overtime as he stopped five shots in the extra session to secure the tie. Chris Rygus scored the lone goal for St. Norbert.
In Saturday’s showdown, Brad Pung scored with 12:04 left in the third to give the Green Knights a 2-1 advantage. The Vikings had jumped in front 1-0 on a goal by Mikkel Joehnk but the Green Knights tied the game on a goal by Jeremy Olinyk. Neither team scored in the second period. St. Norbert improved to 9-2-1 and is 6-1-1 in the NCHA. Lawrence fell to 3-6-1 overall and to 3-2-1 in the league.
Marian had an impressive showing in its two-game series with St. Scholastica. The Sabres skated to a 4-3 win Friday and wrapped up the weekend with a 4-2 win. On Saturday, Hunter Stewart broke a 2-2 tie in the second to give the Sabres the lead for good. Jake Howie stretched the lead to 4-2 in the third. Mike Baldwin racked up 28 saves to nail down the win. He is 4-4-1 on the year.
Marian, which scored the first three goals in Friday’s win to take control, takes a two-game win streak into its holiday break. The Sabres won’t play again until they hit the road for a battle with Wisconsin-Eau Claire on the final day of 2016.
St. Scholastica falls to 4-5 overall and to 3-3 in the NCHA. Brandon Millin and Brett Radford both scored for the Saints in Saturday’s game.
WIAC
Wis.-Eau Claire started off WIAC play with a pair of wins, rolling to a 7-3 win over Wisconsin-Stout on Thursday and topping Wisconsin-River Falls 3-1 Saturday. The Blugolds pushed their win streak to six games with the wins and stand at 8-1-2 overall.
Against Wis.-River Falls, Jake Hopfner broke a 1-1 tie in the second and Mac Jansen added an insurance goal in the period. The goal by Hopfner was his fourth of the season. Jansen pushed his team-leading goal total to nine. Jay Deo earned his eighth win of the year in goal, stopping 20 shots. Christian George scored the lone goal for the Falcons, tallying a goal off the power play in the second.
On Thursday, Garrett Clement and Jansen each scored twice for the Blugolds.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point dominated the competition in the first weekend of conference play, recording a pair of shutouts. The Pointers blanked Wis.-River Falls 3-0 Friday and cruised to a 4-0 win over Wisconsin-Superior on Saturday.
In Saturday’s win over Wis.-Superior, Jacob Barber came through with a goal and an assist as the Pointers improved to 8-2-1 on the year. The goal by Barber was his eighth of the year. Ryan Bittner and Jono Davis both scored off the power play for the Pointers and Eliot Grauer also came through with a goal for Wis.-Stevens Point. Max Milosek was impressive in goal, stopping 22 shots to record his second shutout of the season. He has four shutouts in his career.
The Pointers improved to 5-0 at home on Friday with its win over Wis.-River Falls. Milosek made 15 saves and also got credit for an empty-net goal thanks to a delayed penalty in the third. He is the first goalie in league history to get credit for a goal. Grauer scored an empty-net goal as well for the Pointers in the win over the Falcons.
