Women's Hockey 2/22/04 -- Augsburg 4, St. Benedict 1 

BOXSCORE

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (2/22/04) -- Kristin Murr (Fr., Thornton, Colo./Quest Academy HS) scored two goals to lead Augsburg College to a 4-1 victory over the host College of St. Benedict in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's hockey game Sunday afternoon at the St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Complex.

Stacy Anderson (Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) and Christina Hughes (Sr., Chaska, Minn.) also scored for the Auggies, who improved to 13-9-1 overall, 9-6-1 in MIAC play. St. Benedict drops to 6-12-2 overall, 4-10-2 in league play.

Augsburg is now on a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1), and has won seven of its last nine games (7-1-1). With one conference series remaining in the regular season -- a two-gamer with league-leader St. Thomas next weekend -- Augsburg has already clinched a spot in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs for the second year in a row.

Augsburg outshot St. Benedict by a 29-23 margin, including a 15-7 edge in the first period. Kristin Johnson (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn./Wayzata HS) made 22 saves to score the win for the Auggies. Kate Hall (Sr., Calgary, Alberta/Dr. E.P. Scarlett HS) took the loss for the Blazers, making 25 saves.

Hughes put the Auggies in front early with her third goal of the season, scoring on feeds from Dottie Gilkerson (Sr., Somerset, Wis.) and Jana Ford (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) at the 11:55 mark of the first period. But three minutes later, Susan Engel (Jr., Roseville, Minn.) tied the game with her team-leading 17th goal of the season, a shorthanded tally.

Anderson put the Auggies in front to stay at the 1:17 mark of the second period, scoring on the power play from Laura Hoffman (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS) and Melynda Kleewein (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska/Dimond HS). On the weekend, Augsburg scored three power-play goals in 11 opportunities.

Murr scored the last two goals for the Auggies, scoring from Kleewein at the 16:06 mark of the second period and adding an unassisted, empty-net goal at the 18:37 mark of the third.

One Auggie reached a career milestone, as Annie Annunziato (Sr., Commack, N.Y.) played in her 100th career game. Annunziato, who transferred from Manhattanville (N.Y.) last season, has 148 career points (60 goals, 88 assists), including 85 points (38 goals, 47 assists) in 49 Augsburg games in two seasons.

Augsburg's final series of the regular season will be against St. Thomas, which is unbeaten this season in league play (16-0-0), outscoring its league opponents 82-18. Friday's (2/27) game is at 7 p.m. at the St. Thomas Ice Arena at St. Thomas Academy High School in Mendota Heights, and Saturday's game is at 2:05 p.m., at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

St. Benedict completes its season with an MIAC series against Gustavus. Friday's game is at St. Benedict at 7 p.m., with Saturday's game at Gustavus at 7:05 p.m.