ST. PAUL, Minn. – Jayla Ponce (SR, Kuna, Idaho/Kuna HS) claimed her third multi-goal game of the season and fourth in her two seasons as an Augsburg University forward, scoring twice in the first 13:49 of play, as the Auggies advanced in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason playoffs with a 3-1 quarterfinal win at Macalester College on Monday afternoon.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 3, Macalester 1
LOCATION: Macalester Stadium, St. Paul, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 11-3-4 overall, Macalester 9-7-2 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Ponce struck first just 9:42 into the game, completing an impressive team run up the field. Megan Hensel (SR, Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS) passed the ball from midfield forward to Phoebe Alva Rosa (SO, Jackson, Wyo./Jackson Hole HS), who drove up the left wing and slid a perfect pass to Ponce in the center of the 18-yard box, and Ponce calmly slotted the ball to the low left corner of the goal.
• Four minutes later, Annika Rudolph (JR, Richfield, Minn./Richfield HS) was fouled in the 18-yard box, and Ponce converted the penalty kick, her second penalty kick goal of the year, to give the Auggies a 2-0 lead.
• Augsburg scored an important insurance goal in the 63rd minute, as Alva Rosa scored on a rebound off a shot by Hensel, following a feed from the deep right corner by Ponce.
• The Auggies held a 16-11 advantage in shots in the game, with seven shots on-target compared to Macalester's three.
• Goalkeeper Iz Shuster (SR, Waconia, Minn./Waconia HS) had two saves in a winning effort.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Augsburg is making its 13th appearance in the MIAC postseason playoffs since 2004, and ninth appearance in the playoffs in the last 11 full seasons. The Auggies are the No. 6 seed in the six-team playoffs, claiming the win at No. 4-seed Macalester.
• Ponce is now tied for the lead among MIAC players in total points (35), stands second in goals (11) and leads in assists (13).

FOR THE FOES
• Livi Novello scored on a shot from the center of the 18-yard box, fed from the right wing by Timna Nevo, in the 81st minute for Macalester.
• Abigail Heuga had four saves in goal for the Scots.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg travels to face top-seed Carleton College in a MIAC playoff semifinal game on Thursday (11/2) at 2 p.m. The Knights edged the Auggies 2-1 in their regular-season meeting on Oct. 4 in Northfield, Minn.