MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team could not hold off Chris Johnson, Jim Jensen and Cory Ellertson as the three combined for all seven goals in Augsburg College's first win of the season, a 7-3 game.

The loss drops the Blugolds to 7-8-0 while the Auggies move to 1-10-2 on the year.

Jensen was the first to strike for Augsburg with an evenhanded goal just 2:19 into the game. At 10:03, Johnson tallied his first goal on a power-play shot. The Auggies outshot Eau Claire 12-to-5 in the period.

In the second, Eau Claire got within one at the 11:43 mark off a DJ Clark (So.-Blaine, MN) goal. Bryan Plaszcz (So.-Apple Valley, MN) and Ross Janecyk (Fr.-Grand Rapids, MI) assisted on the powerplay score. Ellertson struck back for Augsburg just before the period ended with a shorthanded strike at 18:41. The Blugolds had the commanding edge in shots this period by a 15-to-7 margin.

The red lights got a lot of work in the final period as the teams combined for six goals. Johnson notched his second at 2:05 on an Auggie powerplay to make it 4-1.

The Blugold offense then came back with two more to make it close again. Janecyk's evensided shot at 4:12 came from passes by Ben Bosworth (Jr.-Hudson) and John Kearns (Fr.-Park Ridge, IL) while Nicholas Kuqali (So.-Pittsburg, PA/Mt. Lebanon) set up Sam Bauler (Jr.-Apple Valley, MN/Eastview) and his powerplay goal at 7:07.

Johnson, Jensen and Ellertson then took turns netting evenhanded scores near the game. They came at 16:08, 16:16 and 19:38 to put the contest out of reach.

The shots were close with Eau Claire edging out Augsburg 32-to-28. That made for 21 Mike Gatzke (Sr.-White Bear Lake, MN/Hill-Murray) saves.

Both teams committed six penalties and both squads went 2-for-6 with the advantage.

The next games for Eau Claire will be Friday and Saturday versus Augsburg again and then Hamline University (MN). Both are in Eau Claire.

Eau Claire-Augsburg Box Score

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