St. Olaf men’s hockey defeated Augsburg College 5-4 at home on Saturday, Feb. 22 in overtime. The Oles’ senior night and final regular season game had a wild ending.
“The last two minutes of Saturday’s game versus Augsburg had many turns,” Head Coach Sean Goldsworthy said. “At the time, Augsburg needed a win to secure a playoff berth and the Oles a win to secure the third seed. Down 4-3 with two minutes, we pulled the goaltender to take a man advantage, thus creating another power play opportunity. After calling timeout, we were able to get some offensive zone time and create a passing lane to the back post, where Peter Lindblad ’16 was positioned to score the game-tying goal with 0:20 seconds left in regulation.”
St. Olaf went on to win in overtime. “Mark and David Rath ’16 were able to make a nice misdirection play below the goal line, creating a wrap-around goal by Mark Rath to secure the victory,” Goldsworthy said.
Forward Peter Lindblad ’16 completed a hat trick with the game-tying goal, adding to a pair of goals scored in the second period. Senior forward Dan Cecka scored the Oles’ third goal of the second period on a power play.
In the last ten minutes of regulation, the Auggies responded with a 3-0 run of their own to tie the game at 4-4 and set up the exciting ending.
Seniors Henrik Wood, John Avino, Dylan Porter, Bryan Glynn, Dan Cecka and Brent Hollerud were honored before the game. In their careers, they achieved an overall record of 44-42-16 .510. In the MIAC, they compiled a four-year record of 29-23-10 .548.
St. Olaf finished the regular season with a 11-10-4 overall record and a 9-4-3 MIAC record. The Oles, who finished tied with St. John’s University but lost the tie-breaker, will be the fourth seed in Friday’s MIAC playoff game. The game will be at home against Concordia-Moorhead College at 7:30 p.m.
vespasia@stolaf.edu
