Augsburg and St. Norbert squared off in a pair of nonconference showdowns Friday night, and the No. 7 Auggies came up short in their bid for an upset of the top-ranked Green Knights. St. Norbert skated to a 3-1 win Friday night and closed out the series with a 4-0 win Saturday. Both games were played at the Cornerstone Community Center, where the Green Knights are always tough to beat.
Friday, William Yates, Tyler Andrews and Tanner Proese all scored for St. Norbert in a span of just over five minutes in the third period to secure the victory. T.J. Black came up with 24 saves. Nate Flynn scored the lone goal for the Auggies, who, combined with Saturday’s loss, have now dropped their last four games after an 8-0 start to the season. It was his team-best seventh goal of the year. Flynn’s goal came off a power play and was only the seventh allowed off the power play this season by St. Norbert.
Meanwhile, St. Norbert came out of the weekend with an 11-0-1 record. Riley Christensen helped make sure the Green Knights stayed perfect by scoring twice Saturday. Keegan Milligan finished the night with a goal and an assist, and Black was phenomenal, racking up 37 saves.
Crazy game for Cobbers and Pipers
Concordia won pretty easily against Hamline Friday night, rolling to a 5-2 victory.
Saturday was an entirely different story. The two teams exploded offensively in a game that ended in a 7-7 tie in overtime. The Cobbers prevailed in terms of taking the extra point, however, by winning a shootout 2-1.
Concordia didn’t look like it had any shot at a victory, trailing 7-2 at one point. The comeback is believed to be the largest in school history. Zach Doerring sparked the rally with a hat trick in the final 11:45 of the third period. Mario Bianchi dished out four assists.
Mark Huneke, who rarely plays, scored a goal near the end of the second to help Concordia trim its deficit to 7-3 heading into the final period of play.
Hamline had lost its last four, but the tie ends that losing streak. Interestingly enough, during the streak the Pipers had scored just seven goals.
Brandon Reinholz paved the way with two goals apiece. Jordan is last year’s MIAC scoring champion. Team scoring leader Mitch McPherson scored his ninth goal of the year.
Concordia finished with 46 shots. Hamline took 39. The seven goals is the most for the Cobbers since the 2015-16 season. Those were scored in a 7-3 win over Hamline. The Cobbers haven’t been in a game like Saturday’s tie since 2007 when they and Saint Mary’s combined for 20 goals in a 17-3 win for the Cardinals.
Saints thrive off power play
St. Scholastica scored three times off the power play in a 3-1 win over Gustavus Friday night. The Saints ended the Gusties’ four-game win streak. The win was the second in a row for the Saints and the first time since 2011 that St. Scholastica has won two games against a MIAC opponent in a season. Zane Steeves made 25 saves for the first shutout of his collegiate career.
Nate Pionk scored a goal and dished out an assist while Cole Golka dished out two assists. The Saints won despite being outshot 25-20.
Pointers hold off Falcons
Ninth-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point came up big in a nonconference battle with Concordia, knocking off the Falcons 5-3.
The Pointers and Falcons went into the third period tied at 3-3. Zach Zech scored his second goal of the year to put Wis.-Stevens Point in front for good at 4-3. Tanner Karty scored an empty-netter to finish off the game.
Karty came through with a goal and an assist, while Drew McLean punched in two goals. Logan Fredericks dished out two assists, as did Willem Nong-Lambert.
Max Milosek made 27 saves, including 12 in the second period to help the Pointers go into the third tied with the Falcons. The Pointers extended their unbeaten streak to five.
Connor Hogg and Jim Pearson both scored in the second to erase a 3-1 lead for the Pointers. The loss was only the second for the Falcons in their last eight games.
Late surge propels Yellow Jackets to win
Wisconsin-Superior scored three goals in the third period to knock off Finlandia, 3-1, Saturday. The Yellow Jackets are unbeaten in their last two games. Ian Ecklund got the comeback started for Wis.-Superior, scoring a goal to tie the game at 1-1. Liam Blais’ third goal of the year gave the Yellow Jackets the lead for good at 2-1, and Daniel Litchke finished off the scoring.
The Yellow Jackets took 44 shots and limited the Lions to 15. Paul Lochner scored the lone goal for the Lions, who are still searching for their first win of the 2017-18 season.
Cole Skinner earned his fourth win goal of the year, making 14 saves. The Yellow Jackets head into Christmas vacation having lost only once in their last five games.
Falcons and Vikings split series
Wisconsin-River Falls scored the final three goals of the game in a 4-1 win over Lawrence Saturday to end a three-game losing streak. The Vikings won the series opener, 3-2, on Friday. Three different Falcons scored, including Jessie Brown, who gave Wis.-River Falls the lead for good with his goal in the second period. Eddie Matsushima also scored in the second.
Zach Satalino scored the first short-handed goal of his career in the loss.
On Friday night, the Vikings were outshot 46-18 but still managed to prevail. Zach Briscoe gave Lawrence the lead for good at 2-1 with a second-period goal. Josh Koepplinger extended the lead to 3-1.
The Falcons outshot the Vikings 19-1 in the third period, but couldn’t score on a night when Evan Cline made a season-high 44 saves.
