Well the adversity, drama and excitement continued this weekend, but the winning streak came to an end. We lost an epic game 5-4 in three overtimes to Augsburg this past weekend. It was a really hard loss to take, not only because we lost, but because it came with controversy.
It is interesting that the game was kind of the opposite of our typical second-half game this season. SJU came out flying and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Both goals were scored by #7 Andrew Commers. We had a lot of confidence going into the 2nd period, but we got away from a few things that had made us successful. We take pride in taking care of the puck in the neutral zone and we are very disciplined on getting pucks deep in traffic. I felt that we allowed Augsburg to create some turnovers in the 2nd period that in turn gave them momentum and puck possession time in our end of the ice. Augsburg scored two goals to tie the game before we got a huge goal from #28 Sam Valerius that gave us a one-goal lead going into the third period.
The confidence was still high, especially entering the third period, which was our best period during our 10-game unbeaten streak. This trend looked to continue when #7 Andrew Commers scored his third goal to put us ahead by two goals early in the third. This is where I have to give Augsburg a lot of credit because they never gave up and picked up their game significantly. Augsburg controlled a lot of the possession the rest of the third period and were able to score a couple quick goals to tie up the game. The 60-minute regulation game ended in a 4-4 tie.
One would think that this was close to an end, but you would have been wrong. This just started the second 3-period game of the evening. The game continued through two overtime periods with no scoring, but a lot of great chances for both teams. Both goalies played very well in the overtime periods and it seemed as if neither team would be able to end it. To cut to the chase, Augsburg scored 2:53 into the third overtime and over 102 minutes of hockey. I believe it was the third longest game in NCAA DIII playoff history. Shots in the game were Augsburg 62 and SJU 52, but SJU outshot Augsburg in the overtime periods, 24-21.
Before I started this blog, I mentioned three things, adversity, drama and excitement. The team fought through a lot of adversity this season and that did not stop right until the end. We had four players come down with the flu the week of the championship game. Two of the players got it earlier in the week and were able to get fluids and have at least one day of practice before taking on Augsburg, but we did lose one of our better players in #2 Sean Lang the night before the big game to the flu. Lang was an All-MIAC rookie team defenseman and our leading scorer on the blue line. He had to miss the game due to weakness and dehydration prior to the game.
The drama came in the form of two goals that we feel went in the net that were disallowed. One was in the first period and would have given us a 3-0 lead after the first. The second came in the second overtime and would have ended the game. Both goals were close and we feel should have counted. With that said, there is no question that I will be bringing up having goal judges for the MIAC playoffs in the future so that there is less controversy and a better feeling that we got the result correct.
Finally, the excitement came in the form of all the support we got from alumni, family and friends this week. A lot of that support came from our big win against the Tommies, but I can’t tell you how many people were texting me and e-mailing me to wish us luck and to congratulate us on our second half of the season. The Johnnie faithful are latching on to this hockey program and I feel that we have a buzz going amongst the Red and White supporters that will continue to push this program to new highs. THANK YOU to all the people that support this program, these players and myself. This is a family and I am so proud to be a part of it.
