Greg Miller, staff writer

The men’s and women’s hockey teams opened up their seasons the weekend of Jan. 30. 

The Auggie men jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals by Austin Koss and Gavin Holland. The second period featured a Gustavus goal followed by Holland’s second of the night, this time on a power-play. A late Gustavus goal saw the game 3-2 entering the third where the Auggies exploded for four goals in the final period, the first two coming on power-plays giving the Auggies a 7-2 win. 

The next day, the Auggies faced St. Johns, who knocked them out of the MIAC tournament last year. The Auggies sent a message to their rivals, scoring two goals in every period while goalie Jack Robbel posted a shutout with 32 saves- good enough for a 6-0 win. Charlie Parker and Austin Martinsen both recorded two goals in the game.

The Auggie women’s team opened at home against St. Scholastica and finished the first period with a 1-0 lead with Kalli Prekker scoring the lone goal. The second period saw the Saints score two goals in 30 seconds to take the lead, but Lanie Lobdell found the back of the net for the Auggies to tie the game up at two apiece. The Saints scored one more goal before the end of the period, putting the Auggies down 3-2 in the third period. The Auggies were able to fight back and make it 3-3 with a power-play goal from Kennedy Stein but the Auggies were unable to do any other damage while the Saints scored two more to hand the Auggies a 5-3 loss. 

The Auggies traveled to Duluth for the second game of the series, which the Auggies outshot the Saints 34-17. Sadly, the shot totals did not reflect the score as the Saints put three goals past the Auggies and the Auggies lost the second game of the series 3-0.

Both teams are back in action the weekend of Feb. 6. with their first official MIAC game against Hamline.