Women's Hockey 2/21/04 -- Augsburg 4, St. Benedict 4 (OT)

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MINNEAPOLIS (2/21/04) -- Katie Ponsolle (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.) scored two goals, including the game-tying goal with 34 seconds left in regulation time, as the College of St. Benedict scored a 4-4, overtime tie with Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest Saturday afternoon at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

However, with the tie, combined with Gustavus sweeping sixth-place St. Catherine on the weekend, Augsburg clinched a spot in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs for the second season in a row. Augsburg now has 17 points in league play, while St. Catherine has 12 points. Both teams have two conference games remaining.

Augsburg is now 12-9-1 overall, 8-6-1 in MIAC play, while St. Benedict is now 6-11-2 overall, 4-9-2 in league play.

Augsburg outshot St. Benedict by a 51-29 margin, but Blazer goalie Kate Hall (Sr., Calgary, Alberta/Dr. E.P. Scarlett HS) came up big, making 47 saves, including several point-blank saves in the final two periods. Augsburg outshot St. Benedict by a 34-16 margin in the final two periods of regulation and overtime.

Augsburg took a 4-3 lead midway through the third period, as Jana Ford (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) scored on a breakaway after a steal by Britt Pennington (Fr., St. Cloud, Minn./Tech HS).

But St. Benedict pulled its goalie in the final minute, and with the extra skater, Ponsolle tied the game on a feed from Susan Engel (Jr., Roseville, Minn.) at the 19:26 mark.

St. Benedict's line of Engel, Ponsolle and Erin Baldwin (Fr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Park Center HS) accounted for three of the Blazers' four goals in the game. Engel scored her team-high 16th goal of the season from Ponsolle at the 2:20 mark of the first period, and Ponsolle scored her first goal of the game from Engel at the 13:10 mark.

Ponsolle's first goal of the game sparked a wild stretch in the first period, as the teams combined for three goals in a 48-second span. Lauren Chezick (Jr., Hastings, Minn.) tied the game at 2-2 on her 15th goal of the season from Stacy Anderson (Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) and Melynda Kleewein (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska/Dimond HS) at the 13:31 mark, but St. Benedict took a 3-2 lead on a Sarah Wilson (Fr., Fairmont, Minn.) goal, from Sarah Horlitz (Fr., Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) and Kristi Fairchild (Fr., Iron, Minn./Hibbing HS), at the 13:58 mark.

Augsburg tied the game again early in the second period, as Annie Annunziato (Sr., Commack, N.Y.) scored from Anderson and Chezick on the power play at the 4:20 mark. Augsburg went 2-for-6 on the power play, as Carrie Velenchenko (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.) scored with the player advantage from Corrie Krzyska (Jr., Fridley, Minn.) at the 10:22 mark of the first period.

Katie Fedoryk (Sr., Austin, Minn.) made 25 saves in goal for Augsburg.

The teams complete the MIAC series on Sunday (2/22) at 2 p.m. at the Municipal Athletic Complex in St. Cloud, Minn.