Green Knights Heading Back to Lake Placid With NCAA Quarterfinal Victory

From Sports Information Director, March 19, 2016 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College advanced to its tenth NCAA Division III Frozen Four in program history with a thorough 6-1 win over Augsburg College in a NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinal-round game at Cornerstone Community Center.

The Green Knights (24-3-2) advance to face UMass-Boston in a national semifinal game Friday at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y., with the time to be determined. St. Norbert is seeking its fifth national championship and its first since 2014. St. Norbert is making its fourth trip to Lake Placid, winning national titles there in 2008 and 2012 and finishing runner-up in 2010.

St. Norbert had a dominant first period, outshooting Augsburg by a 16-3 margin, but couldn't find the back of the net. The Green Knights had a four-minute power-play about midway through the period and didn't connect.

The Auggies (17-9-2), the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion, seized momentum in the first minute of the second period. Trevor Stewart's shot from just inside the blue line from the far wall found twine just 39 seconds into the frame for a 1-0 lead.

St. Norbert responded at 4:54 when Pijus Rulevicius scored his 14th goal of the season. The Green Knights ignited the Cornerstone Community Center crowd when Ross Pavek cleaned up a loose puck off a wraparound attempt to score just 23 seconds later for a 2-1 lead.

St. Norbert added to its lead at 8:31, when Riley Christensen skated down the slot, put a deft move on an Augsburg defender and scored a power-play goal to force the Auggies into using their timeout. Christensen then put the Green Knights ahead 4-1 when he finished a backhand out front at 14:30 of the second period.

The Green Knights put the game away with a pair of third-period goals. Rulevicius scored his second goal of the game just eight seconds into a power-play chance at the 5:30 mark. Pavek then scored his second goal of the game at 6:42 for the game's final goal.

Christensen finished with a four-point game, adding two assists. Pavek had an assist for a three-point game. Tanner Froese also had three assists for a three-point game.

St. Norbert outshot Augsburg 40-16. The Green Knights were 2-for-6 on the power play while Augsburg was 0-4.

Tony Kujava made 15 saves to improve to 15-1-1 in goal this season for the Green Knights. Jordyn Kaufer made 33 saves in 48:55 of work for the Auggies before yielding to Brandon Jones, who made one save in relief.