Augsburg is exactly where it expected to be, headed to the MIAC tournament final for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
The top-seeded Auggies clinched their spot with a 7-0 win over Bethel Wednesday night.
St. Olaf, meanwhile, seemed like the unlikely team to reach the title game, especially being the seventh seed in the tourney. But the Oles will get their championship shot for the first time in a decade after winning 3-1 over Saint John’s Wednesday.
The Auggies, ranked fourth in the nation in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll, and Oles, now meet Saturday night at Augsburg for the right to punch an automatic ticket to the NCAA tournament.
Auggies dominate Royals
Augsburg (24-3) scored the first five goals of the game, including three in the second period, and never looked back against the Royals (15-11-1). Fritz Belisle fueled the attack as he scored four goals, the first three coming in the first 23 minutes of the game. He scored two of those goals off the power play and finished with three power-play goals in all.
Belisle pushed his season total to 16 and Wednesday’s game was his fourth multi-goal game of the year. It’s his first collegiate hat trick.
The Auggies outshot the Royals 42-7 and Keenan Lund dished out three assists. Samuel Vyletelka recorded the fifth shutout of his career and won his 10th game of the the year.
Augsburg swept St. Olaf in the regular season, winning 3-2 in overtime and 7-1. If it were to get upset by the Oles, the Auggies would still have a shot at an at-large bid based on its position (No. 2) in the latest D-III PairWise rankings.
Oles pull off another upset
After taking down second-seeded Concordia over the weekend, the Oles took care of business against the third-seeded Johnnies and now aim for their first MIAC title since 2006. This is only the second time the Oles have played for the MIAC crown.
Tyler Cooper scored the game-winning goal at the 7:20 mark of the third period as the Oles (10-14-3) punched their ticket to the final for the first time since 2012.
Cooper scored off the power play less than two minutes after the Johnnies tied the game at 1-1. Noah Heisler’s empty-net goal finished off the night for the Oles. Jonathan Young also scored a goal for St. Olaf.
Luke Haugen came through with 33 saves.
Interestingly enough, the last time the Oles won a MIAC title, they beat Saint John’s 3-2 in the semifinal round. Wednesday’s win over the Johnnies (17-8-2) comes exactly 16 years later.
