One-hundred, forty-six shots on goal, nearly five hours of elapsed time and almost 121 minutes of playing time later, Augsburg is the MIAC men's hockey tournament champion for the fourth consecutive year. The Auggies outlasted St. John's 2-1 in four overtimes on Saturday night at Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis in the second-longest game in NCAA Division III history.
Tommy Carey, a sophomore from Moorhead, scored a power-play goal on a rebound 54 seconds into the fourth overtime, setting off an Augsburg celebration after the teams played 120 minutes, 54 seconds. Only Gustavus' 6-5 four-OT win over the Auggies in the 2010 MIAC semifinals lasted longer among Division III games. That one needed 138:38 to determine a winner.
"My linemate, Alex Rodriguez, made a great play to find me all alone in front,'' Carey said. "All I had to do was tap it in. I was the lucky guy; anyone on the team could have done that.''
With the victory, Augsburg (21-3-3) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. The Auggies, ranked No. 7 in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll, will travel to St. Norbert on Saturday for a 7 p.m. game.
St. John's (12-10-5) lost despite an outstanding effort by goalie Andrew Lindgren, who made a school-record 86 saves. Augsburg goalie Nick Schmit made 57 saves.
"I feel for the kid. He played unbelievable,'' Carey said of Lindgren. "They both did.''
Augsburg took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Rodriguez at 7:49 of the second period. It remained a one-goal game until late in the third period, when the Johnnies pulled Lindgren for an extra attacker and Robb Stautz scored with 1:21 left.
"We were 1:20 away from posting a shutout win,'' Augsburg coach Chris Brown said. "The guys were really hungry to win the league for a forth time in a row. To have that all of a sudden ripped away late it regulation, I thought it took us a little bit to recover.''
