Box Score In a non-conference battle for St. Scholastica at Hamline University on Friday evening, the Saints and Pipers finished 60 minutes of regulation time deadlocked at 1-1 then played a five minute overtime period without untying the knot.
Hamline (0-2-1) came out in the first period and did their best to ignite the home crowd, out shooting the Saints (1-2-1) six to three, but St. Scholastica netminder Tyler Johnson (East Grand Forks, Minn./East Grand Forks HS) was perfect between the pipes and allowed his team to settle in.
More scoring opportunities in the second period--for both teams--eventually gave way to a Trevor Geiger (Salmon Arm, British Columbia/Salmon Arm (BCHL)) power play goal that staked the visiting blue and gold to a 1-0 lead one second shy of the exact mid-point of the period.
Johnson finished the period with eight more saves while his counterpart in the Hamline net, Zachary Faust stopped seven of eight shots by the Saints.
Hamline took two penalties in the opening minutes of the third period but the Saints weren't able to take advantage of the man-advantage opportunites, the penalty killing unit fueling the hopes of a Hamline comeback.
Sure enough, the Pipers finally snuck one behind Johnson in the period's sixth minute as Kyle Mattson pulled Hamline even at 1-1.
The two teams battled, cleanly (there were only eight penalties in regulation time), through the remaining 14 minutes but neither could find the mark, sending the game to sudden death overtime.
Each team drew a penalty at the 1:19 mark in the OT, but even the open ice of four-on-four (skaters) hockey didn't help as the five minute period eventually ticked down to a final buzzer with both teams either dissatisfied with the tie or relieved to have not gone down in defeat.
Johnson finished the night with 19 saves while Faust registered 18 for Hamline.
Neil Sauter (Superior, Wis./Superior HS (Lincoln-USHL) ) and A.J. Tucker picked up assists on Geiger's first goal of the season, while Nick Zilka and Kyle Kurr picked up assists on Mattson's score, his first of the year as well.
The Saints remain on the road for a 7:05 p.m. Saturday contest at Augsburg College. The Auggies (0-2-1) are still looking for their first win of the season after playing to a 2-2 draw at home on Friday night against UW-Superior.
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