AU hockey notebook: Vikings aim to lock up home ice with weekend series against visiting Michigan Tech – Sioux Falls Live

SIOUX FALLS — The home stretch has arrived for the Augustana hockey team, and for at least the next several weeks, it’s time for the team to settle into its home-ice routine.

Earlier this season, the Vikings spent a total of 47 days away from their home rink. It was certainly a challenging stretch, but they learned a lot. During that time, which spanned from December and into the first weekend of January, AU went 4-1-1 and gained a wealth of confidence and experience before conference play arrived again.

Now, only one CCHA series remains for the Vikings, and they’re looking to make the most of it.

This weekend, Augustana will take on Michigan Tech in the first of two home series to close out its regular season, and with home ice in the first round of the Mason Cup Playoffs still up for grabs, the Vikings and Huskies both have plenty on the line. Puck drop for the two-game series is slated for 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday at Midco Arena.

“We know now that school is back in session, it should be a great student section,” AU coach Garrett Raboin said. “It should just be one heck of an environment for college hockey, and then there’s everything around the game. We just have to play as hard as we can, as disciplined as we can and within ourselves, but it should be fun. This is a great time of year.

“I’ve said it a number of times — our guys need to live through it. We, without question, got better and learned some lessons last weekend. Now we have a quick turnaround and are able to see if we have truly learned and if we can put it to use.”

After getting swept by Minnesota State a week ago, the Vikings (16-9-3) fell into the second-place spot in the league standings with a .619 points percentage. Meanwhile, the Mavericks increased their points percentage to .697, vaulting ahead to position themselves comfortably at the top of the CCHA.

Although Augustana is sitting in second place, it has yet to lock up home ice for the first round of the conference playoffs. However, the Vikings’ fate is well within their control this weekend against the Huskies.

For AU, a regulation win against MTU would lock up a top-four spot in the conference, ensuring home ice, but there are also a couple of other scenarios in play for the Vikings to clinch home ice this weekend. If Augustana earns just two a possible six points against MTU, it would need Lake Superior State to drop two or more points in its series at Ferris State, and if the Vikings claim only one point versus the Huskies, LSSU would need to drop three or four points against FSU.

Meanwhile, the MacNaughton Cup is also still in play for AU, but it’s a little bit of a long shot. The Vikings would need to sweep the Huskies, and with four CCHA games remaining, the Mavs would need to claim six total points to earn at least a share of the regular season championship. Seven points would give MSU an outright claim to the league’s regular season crown.

For now, though, Augustana is focused on controlling what it can control.

“The older teams, the veteran teams, the ones that have been there before, I think there’s a quiet confidence, a seriousness, that happens this time of year in their approach. We’re hoping to see the same thing,” Raboin said. “In games of this magnitude that we’re walking into, you have to have that quiet confidence and you have to have a little snarl to your game.

“If there’s a mistake made or anything, you have to keep that even keel about you and just keep fighting on.”

Last weekend, the Vikings dropped

a 4-1 decision in their series opener

against the Mavericks after failing to convert on four power-play chances, including a two-man advantage midway through the second period in which they didn’t get a single shot on goal.

However, Augustana performed much better on Saturday but was unable to come away with the win after giving up two goals in the first period. In that game, which

resulted in a 2-1 defeat,

the Vikings out-shot the Mavs 29-19, allowing only 10 combined shots on goal in the final 40 minutes.

Throughout the series, AU was battling through some illness in the locker room, which forced several late changes to the lineup both nights. Raboin says it was a priority early this week to allow his players to get some rest, but now, his players “are coming through it and seem to be on the other side.”

“Last week was an opportunity for some guys to show what they can do, some guys that maybe hadn’t had the volume or opportunity that maybe they had wanted to in stretches were able to play,” Raboin said. “Some were able to really rise and have an impact on the game, which is great to see.

“Especially in the back half of [Saturday’s] game, we felt like there were opportunities there. We felt like there was intensity. Maybe it was desperation, but this time of year, you have to play with that desperation and that edge. … We think everything’s amplified as we move through February, and it’ll be the same in March. I feel like there was a lesson to be learned in there with just how you have to be ready in every moment right from the start of the weekend, from the first shift on Friday night. It’ll be no different this weekend.”

As it stands, MTU finds itself in fourth place in the league standings with a .583 points percentage, but with six league games remaining before the start of the Mason Cup Playoffs, the Huskies (15-11-2) have a chance to climb even higher in the standings.

Led by eighth-year coach Joe Shawhan, Michigan Tech has finished second in the CCHA every year since the conference was revived in 2021.

Last season, the Huskies were the No. 3 seed in the CCHA playoffs after sharing the second-place spot with St. Thomas. MTU then went on to win its first-ever Mason Cup after knocking off Bemidji State 2-1 in the CCHA championship, earning the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

“They’re well coached. That’s something you learn quickly coming into this league,” Raboin said about Michigan Tech. “Joe Shawhan does an incredible job with his staff, so I’m excited to see them again.”

Tale of the tape

AU		MTU
2.7	Goals/game	2.8
2.0	Goals allowed/game	2.5
28.3	Shots/game	30.3
30.4	Shots allowed/game	26.3
14-81	PPG	24-92
11-79	PPG allowed	20-78

Leading the way for the Huskies this season is junior forward Stiven Sardarian, a New Hampshire transfer who has made an immediate impact in his first year with the program. Sardarian is tied for the league lead with 32 points, including a CCHA-best 22 assists.

Freshman Elias Jansson has emerged for Michigan Tech as of late, logging six goals in his last four games, while sophomore Chase Pietila, a fourth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in last year’s NHL Draft, leads MTU’s blue line with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists).

“They mirror Mankato in the sense that they have some guys who are willing to challenge you in different ways, especially off the puck and on the rush,” Raboin said about Michigan Tech, which has a 7-1-2 record on the road this season. “In the zone, I think they have a good plan every night. They have strong face-off detail, so they start off on the right side of it more often than not. On special teams, they have guys that are not just one-dimensional in that sense. They’re able to bring some new things to life.

“You can’t just prepare for one thing. You’re going to have to be prepared for a couple things, and those guys have executed consistently throughout the year.”

The Huskies had won four of five heading into last weekend’s series against Bemidji State. However, they experienced a setback, dropping a 5-3 decision Friday and a 6-5 overtime defeat Saturday to come away with only one point on Winter Carnival weekend in Houghton, Michigan.

“I think we’re playing the best teams at the end of the year, just as you would want it to help lead you into playoffs,” Raboin said. “They have some bonafide top scorers in our league, some guys that are trending through the second half, some freshmen that are contributing right away.”

Between the pipes, freshman Ryan Manzella has also provided a big boost for the Huskies in the second half of the season. This weekend will be a homecoming of sorts for Manzella, who spent the first half of the 2024-25 campaign with the Sioux Falls Stampede before an injury in the Huskies’ goalie room opened the door for him to start his college career early.

So far, Manzella has logged a 6-1 mark with three shutouts, boasting a 2.25 goals-against average and .913 save percentage. Senior Derek Mullahy is MTU’s other option in goal. With a 6-9-2 record and two shutouts to his name, Mullahy has a 2.59 GAA and .904 save percentage in 2024-25.

A year ago, the Vikings were in their inaugural season when they traveled in early November to Houghton to get their first taste of what it’s like to play on the road in the CCHA. However, that series didn’t turn out the way Augustana wanted it to. In the series opener, the Vikings held a 4-2 lead in the first period before the Huskies scored four straight to claim a 6-4 win. Then, the following night, AU gave up an extra-attacker goal in the final minute of regulation before losing in overtime, 4-3.

“I’m excited to see them again,” Raboin said. “We haven’t seen them in over a year. … We’ve seen them a lot on video, but it’ll be nice to meet them on the ice here this weekend.”

Offense came at a premium for the Vikings last weekend at MSU, but senior Payton Matsui found himself in the scoring column for the second week in a row.

With 2:51 remaining in the second period Saturday, Matsui got to the net front and redirected a shot from Tyler Hennen that beat Mavs goalie Alex Tracy to pull AU within 2-1 heading into the second period.

A native of Lakeville, Minnesota, Matsui now leads Augustana with 19 points this season. He’s tied for the team lead with 12 assists, and his plus-15 rating on the ice is tops on the Vikings’ roster.

The 5-foot-7 alternate captain also has 19 blocked shots, which is tied for most among AU’s forward group.

“It’s everything that comes with him — student, athlete, leader — to find something like that in your second year and have him not just come and want to be a part of something and kind of sit in the background,” Raboin said about Matsui, who transferred to Augustana in the offseason after playing the last three seasons at Alaska. “He came here wanting to be a driver. He wanted to be a leader. He wanted to mentor young players and welcome them in and show them what college hockey is all about, and he’s been tremendous for us.

“It started in the summer and has continued all the way to this point.”

Friday, Feb. 14

• Bowling Green at USNTDP U-18, 6 p.m. (exh.)
• Lake Superior State at Ferris State, 6:07 p.m.
• Michigan Tech at Augustana, 7:07 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 15

• Lake Superior State at Ferris State, 5:07 p.m.
• Michigan Tech at Augustana, 6:07 p.m.

Team, Points %, Games played

1. Minnesota State, .697, 22
2. Augustana, .619, 14
3. Bowling Green, .591, 22
4. Michigan Tech, .583, 20
5. St. Thomas, .485, 22
6. Lake Superior State, .467, 20
7. Ferris State, .450, 20
8. Bemidji State, .439, 22
9. Northern Michigan, .212, 22

• League standings in 2024-25 are based on points percentage. Augustana will play 16 CCHA games this season as part of its partial schedule, while the other eight teams in the conference will play 26 league games.