ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- For the first time in school history, the Augsburg University men's soccer team will play in the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Division III national tournament, advancing on penalty kicks after a 2-2 overtime tie with the State University of New York-Cortland on Saturday afternoon at Washington University-St. Louis.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 2, SUNY-Cortland 2 (2OT, Augsburg advances 6-5 on penalty kicks)
LOCATION: Francis Olympic Field, St. Louis, Mo.
RECORDS: Augsburg 18-2-3 overall, SUNY-Cortland 14-1-6 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Carver Tierney (SR, Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS), Augsburg's leading scorer, scored both of Augsburg's goals in regulation time, marking his fifth multi-goal game of the 2025 season. Tierney now has 20 goals and six assists for 46 points, Augsburg's single-season school records for both goals and points.
• Cortland State took the lead with a goal in the 49th minute, but Tierney answered with goals in the 70th and 80th minutes. His first goal came on a low shot from the top of the 18-yard box, sliding between the goalkeeper and the left goalpost. Following a forward pass from Anson Karn (SO, Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove HS), Tierney made a move past a Red Dragon defender to position himself for the tying goal.
• Tierney's second goal came on a header in front off a free kick from 25 yards out by Diego Veit (SR, Vina Del Mar, Chile/Centro Educacional de Adultos Rafael Sotomayor).
• The Red Dragons tied the game two minutes later on a penalty kick following a foul in the 18-yard box.
• After a scoreless set of 10-minute overtime periods, the game went to penalty kicks. Augsburg's first PK attempt, by Mitchel Munzing (SR, Portland, Ore./Grant HS), was saved, but the Auggies connected on their remaining attempts -- by Jeffrey Richter (SR, Portland, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep HS), Tierney, Joseph Swallen (JR, Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS), Christopher Plaza Alvarado (SO, New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony Village HS), Muhammed Keita (SR, Farato, Gambia/Nusrat Senior HS) and Munzing on his second attempt.
• Goalkeeper Christian Hodges (FY, New Albany, Ohio/Tree of Life Christian School), who had five saves in regulation time, came up with two huge saves on penalty kicks, one on a dive to his right on the Red Dragons' third attempt, and the final one on a dive to his left.
• After being outshot by a 49-13 margin in their first two NCAA playoff victories, the Auggies claimed a significant shot advantage on Saturday, outshooting the Red Dragons by a 21-9 margin, with eight shots on-goal to Cortland State's seven. The Auggies also held a 59-to-41-percent advantage in possession.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• In its fourth-ever appearance in the national tournament (prior appearances in 2008, 2010 and 2018), Augsburg was in its second "Sweet Sixteen" round game, and first since 2008. Now 4-3-2 all-time in NCAA playoff competition, all under 22nd-year head coach Greg Holker (212-136-56 career record), the Auggies will appear in their first-ever "Elite Eight" game.
• Augsburg entered the game ranked No. 2 in the final United Soccer Coaches Division III national poll of the regular season, while Cortland State was ranked No. 9.

QUOTES FROM AUGSBURG COACH GREG HOLKER
• "We made that a little more difficult than we needed, but we got the job done in the end. We showed incredible grit and resilience to come back from down 0-1 to grab the 2-1 lead. Then when we made a mistake, that grit showed up again in the shootout -- no one dwelled on it, we just moved forward and Hodges made two good saves to secure the result."
• "We felt we were better from the get go, but at this stage of the tournament who is 'better' doesn't really matter anymore. It's who gets the job done, regardless of what that looks like. Tomorrow we are going to need some of that after playing 20 extra minutes, while Trinity dispatched WashU pretty convincingly."
• "I am so proud of the group for advancing our program to a place it's never been. We are all grateful for the alumni and family support; this has been an incredible journey, and we are glad to say we get one more day together."

FOR THE FOES
• Josh Carroll scored both goals in the game for Cortland State, in the 49th and 82nd minutes.
• Jordan Ott had six saves in goal for the Red Dragons.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg will face No. 5 Trinity University (Texas) on Sunday (11/23) at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinals, with the winner advancing to the National Championships site in Salem, Va., Dec. 5-7. Trinity blanked the hosts, No. 12-ranked Washington-St. Louis, 3-0 in the other third-round game in St. Louis on Saturday.