ARDEN HILLS, Minn. -- Gabriela Encarnacion (JR, Bel Air, Md./Bel Air HS) scored two goals, and Ashley St. Aubin (JR, Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS) set an Augsburg University women's soccer record for goals in a season, as the Auggies advanced to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason playoff title game with a 4-2 semifinal victory at Bethel University on Wednesday afternoon.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 4, Bethel 2
LOCATION: Ona Orth Complex, Arden Hills, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 14-6-0 overall, Bethel 13-4-1 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Playing in its second game in as many days, the No. 3-seed Auggies claimed their second victory over No. 2-seed Bethel this season to advance to the MIAC playoff championship game. The Auggies will play at the top-seeded University of St. Thomas (17-2-0 overall) on Saturday (11/3) at 1 p.m. in the title game in St. Paul, Minn., with the winner receiving the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament. In their only meeting this season, St. Thomas handed Augsburg a 5-0 defeat on Oct. 24 at Edor Nelson Field.
• Encarnacion claimed her first multi-goal game in her two seasons as an Auggie after transferring from St. Mary's (Md.), scoring her seventh and eighth goals of the season. Her first goal came on a rebound of her shot that hit the goalpost in the 38th minute, and her second goal came at the 50:22 mark.
• After Bethel cut the lead to 3-2 with two goals in a 37-second span, including a goal on a penalty kick, the Auggies clinched the victory behind the foot of St. Aubin, the MIAC's scoring leader this year and the last two seasons. A day after setting Augsburg's single-season points record, St. Aubin set a new single-season goals record with her 20th goal of the season at the 60-minute mark.
• Nora Edelen (SR, Middleton, Wis./Middleton HS) scored her first goal of the season, and ninth of her career, at the 22:56 mark, assisted by St. Aubin.
• Bethel outshot Augsburg by a 12-10 margin, and Augsburg goalkeeper Emily Chapman (JR, Elburn, Ill./Kaneland HS) came up with four saves to pick up the win.
• Encarnacion had four shots in the game, while Jessy Wiskofske (SR, Wausau, Wis./Wausau West HS) had three shots.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Augsburg's career scoring leader, St. Aubin now has 52 career goals and 122 career points (22 assists) in 61 games. St. Aubin has scored at least one goal in 39 games in her career, and the Auggies are now 37-1-1 when she scores a goal.
• The MIAC's leader in goals and points the last two seasons, St. Aubin leads the MIAC in both goals (20) and points (51), while she is second in assists (11).
• Competing in its 10th MIAC postseason playoff in program history, Augsburg will compete in its fourth MIAC title game in a seven-season span. The Auggies were playoff runners-up in 2012, and won playoff title games in both 2014 and 2016.

FOR THE FOES
• Rachel Waterman scored on a penalty kick for Bethel at the 51:57 mark, and Britney Monteon scored an unassisted goal at the 52:35 mark.
• Monteon had four shots, while Waterman had three shots for the Royals.

QUOTES FROM AUGSBURG COACH MIKE NAVARRE
• "We are obviously excited to be in the final on Saturday. I'd like to congratulate Bethel on an outstanding season. They are well coached and definitely put us under some pressure today.  We had to be precise and finish well today, and fortunately, we were up to the challenge."
• "St. Thomas is excellent. They are deep, experienced and driven. I expect an outstanding game."