What has been a dream season for the St. Scholastica men's hockey team was harshly awoken to reality on Saturday night at Mars Lakeview Arena.
In a winner-take-all championship game, Augsburg led nearly wire to wire, taking the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship and with it, an NCAA tournament bid by beating the Saints 4-1.
The second-seeded Auggies took the initiative from the opening face-off, putting the first five shots on goal. One of them went in, a seeing-eye snipe on the power play from Nick Woodward 2:24 in. Augsburg hit a pipe barely a minute later.
The regular-season champion Saints got their first power play just past the halfway point of the first period, but instead of an opportunity for the hosts to get back on even terms, the man advantage backfired, as Gavin Holland sprung in on a breakaway to make it 2-0 Auggies. CSS recovered to scored on the power play, Tyler Hinterser converting a nice passing play with assists from Braeden Holcomb and Arkhip Ledenkov.
CSS was unable to build on the goal, taking two penalties in the second period. On the second of those, Augsburg added to its lead, with Erik Palmqvist getting the 3-1 goal and Vincent Weis scoring a backbreaking goal at even strength with 9.1 seconds remaining in the frame.
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The Auggies were bolsted by Samuel Vyletelka, who made 25 saves, while CSS goaltender Jack Bostedt, who was forced into 16 saves in the second period and finished with 33 for the game.
CSS, which won the MIAC regular-season title for the first time since switching leagues in 2021, end their season 17-7-3.
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