Augustana hockey save streak split at St. Thomas in first-ever CCHA series – Sioux Falls Live

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — In their first CCHA series as full members of the conference, the Augustana Vikings salvaged a split Saturday night at Saint Thomas Ice Arena.

Freshmen Tyler Hennen and Joey DelGreco each tallied their first collegiate goals, and Josh Cotai had another stellar performance between the pipes, leading Augustana to a 3-2 road win against St. Thomas.

The win snapped a three-game hitting streak for the Vikings (4-4), who lost a 4-0 decision against the Tommies in Friday’s series opener.

George Danneker / Tommy Athletics

On Saturday, Kotai finished with 38 saves, including 17 in the second period alone, to improve to 4-3 on the season.

Augustana never trailed in the race. DelGreco opened the scoring at 3:03 of the first period with a backdoor, with Simon Falk and Colton Friesen each recording an assist on the goal.

Tommies forward Ryan O’Neill scored a power play goal later in the period to tie the game at 1-1. However, midway through the second frame, Brett Meerman put the Vikings back in front, 2-1, with a goal under the faceoff point, with Owen Bohn and Luke Mobley each getting an assist.

Then, at 15:10 of the second, Liam Malquist scored an unassisted goal as the Tommies (2-4-1) trailed, but that was as close as UST would get.

With 11:44 left in the game, Hennen scored the game-winning goal off assists from Garrett Drotts and Peyton Matsui.

Brady Zimmer finished with five blocked shots to pace the Vikings on defense.

On Friday, goalkeeper Aaron Trotter made 20 saves to lift UST to victory. Matthew Gleeson scored twice for the Tommies, while Liam Malqvist recorded two assists.

Although UST was held scoreless through the first 20 minutes of the game, Kotai stopped 24 shots in the loss.

The Vikings will now turn their attention to a two-game set next weekend at Midco Arena against Bemidji State, which began the conference with a home split against Minnesota State.

Trent Singer is a sports reporter for the Sioux Falls Live. He focuses his coverage on Augustana men’s hockey and Sioux Falls area sports. Singer’s previous stops include Women’s sports onlyon Southeast Missourian and on Kentucky’s New Era.