There was a stretch in early in the season that made it seem as if Augsburg was a long way off from contending for a conference title.
The Auggies dropped five out of six games between the start of December and first half of January.
Since then, Augsburg has been one of the better teams in college hockey, and its late-season surge was punctuated by a MIAC tournament championship Saturday night on the road.
Up against conference front-runner St. Scholastica, the top seed in the tournament, the Auggies dominated from the start and skated to a 4-1 win over the Saints to wi the Ed Saugestad Cup and automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
The championship is their first since 2019 and the sixth in program history, and with the win, they are headed back to the tournament for the second consecutive year and the eighth time overall.
Three of their four goals came off special teams, with Nick Woodward getting things going on a power play goal less than three minutes into the action.
Gavin Holland then added a shorthanded goal for a 2-0 lead. The Saints cut the lead to 2-1 before the end of the opening period but the Auggies scored twice in the second to take control for good.
Goals by Erik Palmqvist and Vincent Weis capped the scoring for the Auggies, who also got a stellar performance from goaltender Samuel Vyletelka. He stopped 25 saves for his 12th win of the year. The Auggies held a 37-26 advantage in shots, including a 27-13 edge over the final two period of play.
Tyler Hinterser scored the lone goal for the Saints. Goalie Jack Bostedt made 33 saves as the Saints saw their special season, which included the first MIAC title in program history, come to an end. The Saints finish the year at 17-7-3.
Augsburg, the second seed in the tourney, improves to 16-9-2 and has won nine of its last 13 games.
Bulldogs dominate NCHA final
To say top-seeded Adrian dominated second-seeded Aurora in the NCHA tournament championship game Saturday night would be an understatement.
Three goals in the opening period of play. Four more in the second. And one for good measure in the third propelled the reigning national champions to an 8-1 win over the Spartans at the Arrington Ice Arena.
The third-ranked Bulldogs clinched their second consecutive Harris Cup title and their 10th overall in program history.
Ayodele Adeniye, Jaden Shields and Mathew Rehding all scored in the opening period as Adrian raced out to a 3-0 lead.
Eighth-ranked Aurora scored its lone goal of the game in the second thanks to Derrick Budz. That made the score 3-1.
Zachary Heintz, John Kaljian, Connor May, Alessio Luciani and Jacob Suede all scored goals as well for the Bulldogs while Ty Enns dished out three assists. May, Shields and Heintz all tallied assists to go along with their goals.
Nic Tallarico came through with 30 saves.
All six members of the all-tourney team were from Adrian. It’s the first time the entire squad has been from the same team. Rehding, Luciani, Shields, Chase Spencer and Tallarico all made the squad. For Luciani, his goal in Saturday’s win marked the 150th point of his career. He’s only the seventh in program history to get to that milestone.
Aurora’s season ends with a 19-8-2 record and proved to be the best in program history for the Spartans.
The Bulldogs are 23-4-2 and have won four consecutive games. They won all three of their games against Aurora this season, outscoring the Spartans 24-7 in the three meetings.
Next up is the NCAA tournament where the Bulldogs will take aim at a repeat for the first time in program history.
Pointers punch ticket to tournament
For the first time ever an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney was on the line in the WIAC championship game.
And the Pointers made sure to take advantage of that opportunity, winning its fourth conference tournament crown in program history with a 5-1 win over UW-Eau Claire inside a sold-out KB. Willett Arena.
The game paired the two top two seeds in the tourney against each other.
The Commissioner’s Cup championship is the first for UW-Stevens Point since 2019 when it went on to win the national title. It is now 19-5-4 on the year.
It didn’t take long for the Pointers to get on the board. They scored just one minute and 15 seconds into the action on a goal by Harrison Stewart.
The Pointers led 2-1 after Mick Heneghan scored a few minutes later.
The Blugolds cut their deficit to 2-1 in the second on a goal by Quinn Green, but the Pointers took control from there.
Dawson Sciarrino made it 3-1 at the 8:29 mark of the second and Brett Humberstone pushed the lead to 4-1 a minute into the third period. Jordan Fader scored the Pointers’ final goal.
Sciarrino came through with a pair of assists to go along with his goal. Humberstone dished out an assist as well. Heneghan and Andrew Poulias both dished out two assists apiece in the win.
Ryan Wagner made 24 saves, including 15 in the third, to help UW-Stevens Point seal the deal.
Max Gutjahr tallied 18 saves for the Blugolds, who see their season come to an end with an 18-9-1 record. They came into the game having won their last four.
Next Up: The 12-team NCAA tournament field will be announced Monday at 9 a.m. Central time on NCAA.com. First-round games will be held Saturday and the quarterfinals are scheduled for March 18th. The final four and championship are slated for March 24th and 26th.
