Despite battling back after a rocky second period, the St. Thomas men’s hockey team fell 5-3 to top MIAC contender Augsburg Friday night.
The top two MIAC teams played a fast and aggressive game that ended with an open net goal scored by Augsburg forward Nate Flynn late in the third period.
St. Thomas was down one goal going into the second period and eager to strike back; however, two early Tommie penalties set the tone for the second period.
Within four minutes, Augsburg scored three additional goals, making it a 4-0 game.
“We gotta stay out of the penalty box, we got really caught up in the junk in the second period and we payed for it,” head coach Jeff Boeser said.
The Tommies played from behind the whole game, but thanks to two goals from forward Brett Gravelle and one goal from forward Thomas Williams, the third period turned into a one goal game.
St. Thomas fought hard throughout the third period and senior goaltender Ben Meyers made several crucial saves to keep the Tommies alive.
“In the third we played hard and played clean, but we just ran out of time,” Boeser said.
Unfortunately, St. Thomas was unable to score the goal it needed to tie the game, and gave up an open net goal with five seconds left in the third period.
“It’s tough when we’re taking penalties in the second period. It really costs us so we have to play smart,” defender Johnny Rosium said. “We want all 20 of us guys to show up and play, the past few week we haven’t been our best on Fridays and we usually show up on Saturdays, so I think that’s what we need to do.”
The Tommies face Augsburg for a second time on Saturday, and seek to carry their energy from tonight’s third period into their next matchup.
Lauren Knisley can be reached at knis1243@stthomas.edu