Women's Hockey 3/1/05 -- MIAC Playoffs -- St. Mary's 3, Augsburg 1

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (3/1/05) -- Jenn Shire (Fr., Anaheim Hills, Calif./El Dorado HS) scored two second-period goals and Nikki Jung (So., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) came up with 34 saves, leading St. Mary's University to a 3-1 victory over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first-round women's hockey playoff game Tuesday night at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

Fifth-seed St. Mary's, now 11-12-3 overall, advances to play top-seed Gustavus Adolphus College (21-3-1) in the MIAC semifinals on Thursday (3/3) at 7 p.m. in St. Peter. The other semifinal Thursday will pit No. 3 St. Olaf (15-8-1) at No. 2 St. Thomas (20-3-2), starting at 5:30 p.m.

St. Mary's overcame a 1-0 first-period deficit with two goals from Shire in the second period to take control, then added an insurance goal from Madeline Loftus (So., Parsippany, N.J.) in the third period.

Jung stopped 34 of the 35 shots she faced to claim the victory, including stopping all 18 shots she faced in the third period. Both teams had 35 shots on goal in the game.

Augsburg, the No. 4 seed in the five-team MIAC playoffs, finishes its season at 13-10-3 overall. Augsburg, in the conference playoffs for the third straight season, was hosting its first home conference playoff game since the 1999-2000 season.

Augsburg and St. Mary's have met in the last three MIAC playoff "play-in" games, with St. Mary's winning the 2003 meeting on neutral ice and Augsburg winning last season at St. Mary's. The Cardinals are now 3-1 all-time against Augsburg in postseason play.

The Auggies scored first in the game, as Carrie Velenchenko (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn.) popped in a rebound on a scramble in front of Jung at the 15:45 mark of the first period. Jocelyn Cookson (Jr., Edina, Minn./Bloomington Jefferson HS) assisted on the Auggie goal.

Shire scored her first goal on an unassisted tally, stealing the puck in the Augsburg end and putting back a rebound of her own missed shot at the 8:04 mark of the second period. At the 18:17 mark, Shire scored again, on an assist from Jenny Hocum (Sr., Rochester, Minn./John Marshall HS) just nine seconds into a Cardinal power play. St. Mary's outshot Augsburg by a 19-9 margin in the second period.

Though Augsburg had a significant advantage in shots in the third period, none could get past Jung, including a sprawling save on a breakaway by Augsburg's leading scorer, Stacy Anderson (So., Lafayette, Calif./Marina HS), early in the period.

Amanda Bockmann (Fr., Wind Lake, Wis./Muskego HS) made 32 saves in a losing effort for Augsburg.