AU hockey notebook: Augustana counts lessons learned as conference play begins at St. Thomas – Sioux Falls Live

SIOUX FALLS — The result last weekend wasn’t what the Augustana hockey team had hoped to get on the road, but coach Garrett Raboin believes there was a lot of value in the experience.

The Vikings were looking to carry forward the success away from their home arena, but despite staying competitive throughout the entirety of both games, they were dealt a pair of one-goal losses at then-No. 12/14 St. Cloud State.

However, there’s no time for AU to dwell on the past.

Raboin believes there was a lesson to be had in how the Huskies managed the game, and the Vikings will try and put that to use this weekend when they begin CCHA play with a Friday-Saturday series at St. Thomas in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday.

“The second period in both nights, I felt, was the difference,” Raboin said about last weekend’s losses. “Line changes, puck placement, different things like that became really important. They’re a top 10 team in the country for a reason, and at that level, those things in close games matter so much.

“It’s something we talked to our guys about as our next step, identifying where we can grow there and making the corrections.”

For Augustana (3-3), Owen Bohn tallied three goals on the weekend, including two in the first period of the series opener, but the Vikings were never able to extend their one-goal lead.

A goal by Josh Zinger in the final minute of the opening frame sent both teams into the first intermission tied at 2-2. Then, the Huskies got goals from Nick Portz and Daimon Gardner in the second stanza, and despite a third-period tally from defenseman Owen Baumgartner — his first as a Viking — AU wasn’t able to get the equalizer against Huskies goalie Isak Posch in the final five minutes, falling 4-3.

On Saturday, freshman goaltender Christian Manz got his first collegiate start for Augustana, stopping 28 of 30 shots. However, the Vikings’ offense was held in check by Posch, whose only blemish was a goal by Bohn that tied the game at the 4:20 mark of the second period. A little more than three minutes later, Zinger lit the lamp to seal the final score, 2-1.

AU finished with a 13-5 advantage in shots on goal in the final frame, but it still wasn’t enough to beat Posch, who recorded 26 saves to improve the Huskies to 6-1 on the season.

In the aftermath of the sweep, the Huskies jumped up to No. 10 in the national polls, while Manz was named CCHA Rookie of the Week for his efforts between the pipes.

“We like where our group’s at right now,” Raboin said. “We feel like it’s in a solid place. Guys are starting to develop a confidence that they should take and a belief from playing some of the bigger teams in the country, as far as where they’re ranked nationally.

“There’s some things that our guys should be excited about and carry with them into the future.”

The Vikings will play truly meaningful league games for the first time this weekend after CCHA member schools voted earlier this summer to allow them to become a full members of the conference a year early.

Through three non-conference series to open the season, Raboin believes his team has learned a lot about itself in a short amount of time, and he hopes his team will carry those lessons into the start of conference play.

“There’s some chemistry that’s starting to build within your group,” Raboin said. “You’re seeing some special teams get more reps.

“Those are things that hopefully can put you in a better place entering league play, but this league’s so darn tough. You go back to Mankato winning the league six straight years in a row under Mike Hastings and their record in the league. It was challenging for them, and those are teams that went on to Frozen Fours and a national championship game. The CCHA is a darn good league. It’s super deep, and it’s a night-to-night dogfight.”

With a 1-3-1 record on the year, the Tommies’ October slate didn’t go quite as smoothly as they had hoped, but the start of conference play offers an opportunity for them to reset.

UST, which is led by fourth-year coach Rico Blasi, opened the season at home with a 1-0 loss against SCSU before earning a tie and a win the following weekend against visiting Vermont.

Then, last weekend, St. Thomas faced its toughest test yet with a two-game set against then-No. 5 Minnesota. The Tommies dropped the first game, 7-1, in Minneapolis before turning around the next night and getting knocked off in a 6-2 decision at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

“You have to take the score out of last weekend. That’s not indicative of the series,” Raboin said about UST, which was picked as the preseason favorite to win the conference. “They’re a darn good team, and they’re going to make it really difficult for us to really create anything or find time and space.

“Our guys are going to have to accept how hard it is if they want to have any success.”

St. Thomas is in its fourth year as a Division I program and has steadily improved each season since its first at college hockey’s highest level in 2021-22.

Sophomore Mason Poolman is tied for the team lead with five points (three goals, two assists) and was named Wednesday as the league’s Defenseman of the Month. Forward Liam Malmquist has five points on two goals and three helpers, while team captain Lucas Wahlin and alternate captain Cooper Gay each have three points for the Tommies.

Between the pipes, UST has split time between its two standout netminders, Aaron Trotter and Jake Sibell, both of whom have combined for a 3.93 goals-against average through five games. Trotter is 1-1 with a 3.50 GAA and .889 save percentage, while Sibell has a 0-2-1 record, 4.26 GAA and .867 save percentage.

Tale of the tape

Augustana		St. Thomas
2.7	Goals/game	2.2
1.7	Goals allowed/game	4.0
27.2	Shots/game	30.2
31.5	Shots allowed/game	32.2
1-12	PPG	0-17
0-17	PPG allowed	4-21

“I think hungry is what you see in their game,” Raboin said. “They’re quick to close time and space. They pressure pucks all over the rink. They have two outstanding goaltenders. You notice their captain all the time, just his energy and his compete. They have good size.”

In 2020, St. Thomas’ athletic department made an ambitious leap, going immediately from Division III to Division I in all sports. The hockey program was accepted as a member of the CCHA, and several years later, plans for the new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena were set in motion with hopes of opening in the fall of 2025.

In May, though, St. Thomas announced plans to leave the CCHA and join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, beginning in 2026-27. For this season and next, the Tommies remain ineligible to earn the league’s automatic bid for winning the Mason Cup Playoffs.

The month of October has gone pretty well for the Vikings in their two years of existence.

Augustana now has a 6-5-1 all-time record in the opening month of the season, and there are trends this time around that might be indicative of a little more staying power.

Defensively, the Vikings are among the best teams in the nation. They are currently averaging a league-best 1.67 goals allowed per game, which is tied with top-ranked Denver for sixth best in the country.

Raboin says it’s due to the execution of playing a selfless brand of hockey in which all five skaters are committed to defending as a unit.

“There’s a lot of elements we’re really pleased with during our start,” Raboin said. “Now entering league play, the stakes go up. It’s going to be fun to get into league play and see where our guys are at.”

AU ranks second in the conference with 17.7 blocked shots per game. Senior blueliner Brady Ziemer leads the Vikings with 16 blocks.

Additionally — and perhaps most importantly — Augustana boasts one of the top netminders in the country in Josh Kotai, who was recognized Wednesday as the conference’s Goaltender of the Month. The sophomore from Abbotsford, British Columbia, is one of just four goalies in the country with two shutouts already this season.

In five starts, Kotai leads the conference with a .950 save percentage that is also tops in the nation among goaltenders with 100 or more saves on the season. He also boasts a 1.63 GAA that ranks second in the league behind only Minnesota State’s Alex Tracy and sixth in the country among goalies with 200 or more minutes in net.

Between Manz and Kotai, Raboin has been thrilled with the play from his goaltenders.

“Both guys have pushed each other. Kayden Hargraves is in that goalie room, too, pushing that group,” Raboin said, “but I told our guys, ‘It’s nice to get recognized with a goalie of the month honor, but usually you have to have a goalie that’s working a little too hard.’

“That’s our next evolution is to maybe not have him so busy, but I’m excited about [Kotai] for this month.”

Bohn’s three-goal weekend vaulted him to the top of the conference in goal scoring.

The sophomore forward has a CCHA-best five goals on the season. He has 15 shots on goal and is converting on 33% of those shots.

“He’s had a great start to the season,” Raboin said. “I think this weekend, with the three-goal performance at St. Cloud State, that was exciting for us because he had been scoring, but it was flashes of lightning. He had a better game possessing pucks. We felt like his legs were underneath him. He had more sustained offense.

“His game was just overall better on the weekend, and he’s a talented player. He’s one guy we’re going to need to rely on for offense.”