As DU men’s hockey fans shuffled out of Magness Arena last Friday evening, the Augustana Vikings celebrated the biggest moment of their young Division One existence: a 6-5 shootout victory over the No. 2 ranked team in the country.
The ecstatic Augustana players mobbed their netminder, senior Zack Rose, right in front of the DU student section—the same student section that just hours before lifted a sign reading, “What the hell is Augustana?”
Even among the most enthusiastic of college hockey fans, this sentiment is likely far from foreign. Augustana University, a small college in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, had never participated in NCAA D-I men’s hockey before the weekend of Oct. 7, where they were unceremoniously swept by the Wisconsin Badgers.
After an impressive two-win showing the following weekend versus Bowling Green, Augustana arrived in Denver to face the Crimson and Gold—ranked second in the NCAA and just one season removed from a national title. Few expected anything other than a foregone conclusion.
Instead, the Vikings astonished the enthusiastic Denver student section. Despite an early 3-0 DU lead, Augustana’s two goals on four shots in the first period had the home fans nervous. Two tallies in 24 seconds in the third period had them shocked. The tying goal with less than 20 seconds remaining had them cursing. The shootout-winning save by Rose on Denver captain McKade Webster left them speechless.
Even though the game would have been recorded as a tie for both teams regardless of who won the shootout, the Vikings could not have looked happier. They banged on the glass inches away from the dejected student section, whose minds suddenly returned to that sign that had been hoisted when spirits were still high.
For all those who might be wondering, who the hell just beat the mighty Crimson and Gold?
Even though this is their first season in Division I competition, Augustana’s hockey lives are made significantly easier by their partial membership in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). While they cannot compete for conference championships, they are given the luxury of security until they are made full members in 2024-25.
Not every D-I hockey team has such a luxury, as squads like Alaska-Anchorage, Lindenwood and Arizona State remain unaffiliated with any conference (although ASU is set to join the NCHC next season). Conference membership makes scheduling, travel and funding much easier, yet it does not guarantee success.
So who are the players that managed to scrape out a result against the (supposedly) second-best team in college hockey? The simple answer is that the Vikings are a squad of recruits and transfers looking for a fresh start.
Out of the 27 players on the Augustana roster, 15 played NCAA hockey at another school last season. Two Vikings transferred from each of Colgate, Alaska-Fairbanks and St. Cloud State, with another eight hailing from Ohio State, Clarkson, Niagara, Arizona State, Providence, Miami of Ohio, Wisconsin or Bowling Green. One player, sophomore Colton Friesen, made the jump from D-III to D-I after transferring from Wisconsin-Superior.
Out of these fifteen transfer players, two are listed as sophomores, seven as juniors, one as a senior, and five as fifth-year players. This is the core of Augustana’s potential and, in this case, evident success. Despite their hockey program’s relative youth, some of their most important players have been playing competitive college hockey for multiple seasons. The number of veteran players is especially striking. For comparison, DU finds itself with only three seniors and no fifth-years.
Underclassmen recruits round out the remaining twelve roster spots, with two sophomores and ten freshmen listed on the roster having not played in the NCAA prior to this season. Eight of these twelve played junior hockey in the United States in either the USHL or NAHL, while the other four developed their skills north of the border in one of the AJHL, BCHL or SJHL. For reference, Denver has 10 new recruits this season, all of whom are freshmen—the largest DU rookie class since the 2018-2019 campaign.
Another significant difference between the two squads is NHL draft picks. Out of Denver’s 26-man roster, no fewer than 12 players have already been drafted by NHL clubs, with another small handful expected to be taken in next summer’s draft. Augustana, on the other hand, has exactly zero. Every single one of their players plays with a chip on his shoulder because few expect them to play professional hockey in North America after college. As for the five fifth-year players, this is their last chance to prove themselves.
Two of these fifth-years, Arnaud Vachon and Chase Brand, scored against Denver last Friday. In eight combined NCAA seasons, neither player has ever scored more than six goals in an entire campaign. The other three fifth-years haven’t seen much more success; Ryan Naumovski has the best season out of the group, having recorded nine goals and seventeen assists at Niagara last year. These players, alongside the other transfers, often never found their stride at their former schools. Augustana gives them their final chance.
The other three goal-scorers were all freshmen: Owen Bohn, Hunter Bischoff and Hayden Hennen. Bohn looks to be a statistical leader for years to come at Augustana, continuing his success after a 23-goal, 24-assist campaign for the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL last season. Having completed this feat in 46 games, he is one of two Vikings to have a point-per-game season in his prior year. The other is Brett Meerman, who had an eye-popping 30 goals and 64 assists in just 60 games in the 2023-24 AJHL campaign. Other standouts are freshmen Callum Gau and Will Howard, who both had impressive seasons in junior hockey last year.
The starting goaltender, senior Zack Rose, struggled to find success in his prior career as a backup for Bowling Green, but through four games this season he has stopped 92.1% of the shots he has faced—numbers one would expect from someone who has a comfortable grip on the starting role.
Augustana’s backup netminder, freshman Josh Kotai, has stopped an even more impressive 93.6% of shots faced through his two games.
Despite a small handful of players with a pedigree of success, Augustana plans to win by committee. Most of their players are unproven at the NCAA level, so there is no one Viking that can be consistently relied on to win games for them. With a combination of fresh-faced talent and gritty experienced veterans, they look to walk into some of the most hostile arenas in college hockey and show what they can do.
The Augustana Vikings have proven they are here to stay. Despite their small undergraduate population and their perplexing mix of youth and veterans, they have found head-turning success in their first D-I season. After last weekend’s Colorado trip, where they also played Colorado College in a 4-3 regulation victory, they have a winning record of 3-2-1. That’s good enough for the best record in the CCHA, beating out teams like Minnesota State and Michigan Tech.
When the Vikings hear “What the hell is Augustana?” they go out and prove it.
