GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Augustana fell to No. 4 North Dakota 4-1 on Saturday night in an exhibition game. Augustana finished with 17 shots and went 0-for-6 on the power play, while the Fighting Hawks scored three times on five power-play chances.
Goaltender
Mathis Langevin stood tall early for Augustana, denying scoring opportunities from Keaton Verhoeff and Cole Reschny to hold off UND's initial attack. Shortly after, the Vikings successfully killed a
Cole Burtch interference penalty. Augustana drew power-play chances of its own at 9:46 and 15:49, but North Dakota blocked several shot attempts. The Fighting Hawks continued to create offensive pressure—including an Anthony Menghini shot that rang off the post at 14:09—before finally breaking the tie on a late power play. Ollie Josephson found the back of the net at 18:48, assisted by Mac Swanson and Will Zellers, sending North Dakota into the first intermission with a 1-0 advantage.
Brett Meerman hit the pipe 16 seconds into the second period, and AU later generated a power-play chance after Josh Zakreski was called for hooking at 17:00. The Fighting Hawks built pressure through the middle of the frame and converted on their own power play at 6:15, with Carson Carels scoring off assists from Jack Kernan and Hudson Malinoski to make it 2-0.
Joey DelGreco answered 22 seconds later for Augustana (SD), scoring at 5:53 with assists from
Matsvei Marshchanok and
Ryan Whiterabbit to cut the score to 2-1. Augustana had overlapping power-play time late in the period and put multiple shots on Jan Špunar, but UND killed those chances before carrying the 2-1 score into the intermission.
Langevin kept the Vikings within reach early in the third period, stopping several Fighting Hawks chances before Will Zellers scored on the power play at 13:25 to put UND ahead 3-1. Augustana pushed back through the middle of the period, with Jan Špunar saving attempts from DelGreco,
Leonid Bulgakov,
Jeff Hutchinson and
Owen Baumgartner during an extended stretch of pressure. The Vikings had a power-play look after Brasen Boser was called for holding, but shots by Bulgakov and
Hayden Hennen hit the pipe and UND kept the margin at two. The Vikings pulled their goalie with 2:21 left and called timeout at 1:57, but Cody Croal scored into the empty net at :33 as the Fighting Hawks finished off a 4-1 win.
Up Next
Augustana opens up regular season play as it hosts Minnesota Duluth on Friday, Oct. 9, at 7:07 p.m. at Midco Arena.
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