Aunna Schulte handles the puck during a 2024-25 Augsburg women's hockey game.
Kevin Healy
2
Saint Mary's (MN) SMU 16-11-0
3
Winner #2/4 Augsburg AUG 22-3-1
Saint Mary's (MN) SMU
16-11-0
2
Final
3
#2/4 Augsburg AUG
22-3-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 OT 1 OT 2 OT 3 OT 4 F
Saint Mary's (MN) SMU 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
#2/4 Augsburg AUG 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 3

Game Recap: Women's Ice Hockey |

Auggies advance to MIAC finals with 4OT victory

MINNEAPOLIS – Aunna Schulte (FY, Bolingbrook, Minn./Plainfield East HS) scored on a wraparound shot 8:06 into the fourth overtime, ending what is believed to be the longest women's hockey game in NCAA Division III history, a 3-2 victory by Augsburg University over Saint Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff semifinal game on Saturday evening at Ed Saugestad Rink.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 3, Saint Mary's 2 (4OT)
LOCATION: Ed Saugestad Rink, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 22-3-1 overall, Saint Mary's 16-11-0 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Schulte gained a loose puck off a faceoff, worked her way behind the net and flipped the puck in for her ninth goal of the season, ending the marathon game after a total of 4 hours and 50 minutes of real time. The game ended after 128:06 of playing time -- the equivalent of two complete 60-minute games, plus 8:06.
• Augsburg outshot Saint Mary's by a 62-55 margin -- with a 36-32 advantage in the four overtime periods. First-year goalie Kayla Simonson (FY, Delano, Minn./Delano HS), making her collegiate postseason debut, came up with 53 saves in goal for the Auggies, improving to 13-3-0 on the season.
• Down 2-1 entering the third period, Augsburg tied the game 3:57 into the frame, as Nora Stepan (JR, Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) scored her 15th goal of the campaign on a wrister from the right point, fed by Schulte and Livia Brehm (JR, Detroit Lakes, Minn./Stillwater HS).
• After giving up a goal in the first period, Augsburg tied the game for the first time at the 2:58 mark of the second period, as Emma Abrahamson (SO, Carpentersville, Ill./Hampshire HS), finishing a 2-on-1 break with a goal from Jenna Allen (FY, Minnetonka, Minn./Holy Family Catholic HS), following a steal in the defensive zone by Elizabeth Fagerlind (SR, Kasson, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville HS).

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Saturday's game is believed to be the longest in NCAA Division III women's hockey history, surpassing a 126:35, four-overtime contest on Feb. 28, 2015 in the NESCAC playoff quarterfinals, with Middlebury (Vt.) beating Hamilton (N.Y.) 3-2. Middlebury also participated in a four-overtime game on March 6, 2010, falling 3-2 to Trinity (Conn.) in 123:49 in a NESCAC playoff semifinal game.
• MIAC regular-season champion Augsburg, the top seed in the five-team MIAC playoffs, will host No. 2-seed Gustavus in the conference title game next Saturday (3/8) at 6 p.m. at Ed Saugestad Rink, with the winner getting the MIAC's automatic berth in the 12-team NCAA Division III national playoffs. It will be the fourth time Augsburg has appeared in the MIAC playoff title game and the third time since the 2016-17 season. Augsburg won the first MIAC postseason playoff title in the 1999-2000 season, 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.
• With its 22nd victory, Augsburg established a new school record for single-season wins in a campaign against all varsity-level opponents (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 that season were against varsity-level foes, with the remainder against collegiate club programs and local adult teams.

FOR THE FOES
• Reese Heitzman gave the Cardinals the lead with a goal at the 7:13 mark of the first period, and Celia Midtbo scored a power-play goal at the 10:34 mark of the second period.
• Saint Mary's goalie Celeste Rimstad had 59 saves.
Print Friendly Version