WINONA, Minn. – The Augsburg University women's hockey team won its third Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season championship, and first outright title, finishing a series sweep of Saint Mary's University with a 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 3, Saint Mary's 2
LOCATION: Saint Mary's Ice Arena, Winona, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 21-3-1 overall (16-2-0 MIAC), Saint Mary's 15-10-0 overall (10-8-0 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Augsburg finished the 2024-25 regular season with 48 points, three points ahead of second-place Gustavus Adolphus College, to secure the conference crown and the top seed in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs. Augsburg will host a playoff semifinal game next Saturday (3/1) at 7 p.m. at Ed Saugestad Rink, hosting the winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal game between No. 5-seed St. Olaf College and No. 4-seed Saint Mary's. No. 3-seed Hamline will play at No. 2-seed Gustavus in the other semifinal on Saturday. The semifinal winners will meet in the final at the site of the highest remaining seed on Saturday, March 8, with the winner getting the MIAC's automatic berth in the 12-team NCAA Division III national playoffs.
• Emily Cronkhite (SR, Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) scored the first two goals for the Auggies in Saturday's win. Her first goal came at the 8:48 mark of the second period, as she completed a 3-on-0 rush up the ice following a long lead pass by goalie Kayla Simonson (FY, Delano, Minn./Delano HS). Aunna Schulte (FY, Bolingbrook, Minn./Plainfield East HS) took the pass and sprinted up the left wing, putting a pass across the slot onto Cronkite's stick, and she stuffed it home.
• The Cardinals tied the game with an unassisted goal at the 14:30 mark, but Cronkhite scored her second goal of the game 1:24 later, circling in from the blue line to the slot, firing a low wrister for her ninth goal of the season. Alena Glover (JR, Anchorage, Alaska/East HS) assisted on the goal.
• Saint Mary's tied the game with a power-play goal with 13 seconds left in the second period, but Augsburg again had an answer, this time from Ella Olson (SO, Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove HS), who scored her second goal of the weekend at the 5:52 mark of the third period, finishing a 2-on-1 break with a goal from Kelsi Ries (FY, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) and Tenley Stewart (JR, Esko, Minn./Esko HS)
• Augsburg outshot Saint Mary's by a 38-17 margin in the game, with Simonson collecting 15 saves in goal to improve to 12-3-0 on the year.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Augsburg won its third MIAC regular-season championship in the 30-season history of the women's hockey program and first outright title. Augsburg was a part of the first two MIAC regular-season titles, in 1998-99 (shared with Gustavus and Saint Mary's) and 1999-2000 (shared with Saint Mary's). Augsburg won the first MIAC postseason playoff title in 2000, advancing to finish second at the inaugural Division III national championship series, falling to Middlebury (Vt.) in the American Women's College Hockey Alliance finals in Boston, Mass.
• Augsburg's 21 wins are tied for the most in a season against all varsity-level opponents in program history (since 1998-99). Augsburg finished 21-7-1 overall in 1999-2000 and 21-6-0 in 2019-20. The Auggies went 22-8-2 in the 1996-97 season, but just four games were against varsity-level foes.
• Augsburg's 16 conference wins are a new program record, surpassing 15-3-0 league marks in both 2019-20 and 2023-24.

FOR THE FOES
• Reese Heitzman scored an unassisted goal and assisted on a power-play goal by Sophia Paduano for the Cardinals.
• Magali Fillion had 35 saves in goal for Saint Mary's.