RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- Elizabeth "Biz" Bauer, who has guided the Augsburg University women's hockey team to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and playoff championships, and a berth in the NCAA Division III national playoff semifinals, has been named as the 2025 CCM/American Hockey Coaches Association Women's Division III National Coach of the Year.

The award was announced on Thursday evening during the NCAA Division III National Championships banquet in River Falls, host to the national semifinals and finals this weekend. Augsburg (24-3-1) will face host Wisconsin-River Falls in the national semifinals on Friday (3/28) at 7 p.m. She will receive her award at the AHCA Convention on Monday, May 5, in Bonita Springs, Fla.

It marks the first time that an Augsburg women's hockey coach has ever won the AHCA Division III National Coach of the Year honor. Former Augsburg men's hockey coach Mike Schwartz received the Edward Jeremiah Award as AHCA Division III Men's National Coach of the Year in the 1997-98 school year.

Bauer was named the third head coach in the 30-season history of Augsburg women's hockey in September 2024. Inheriting a team that had lost seven players to graduation and had 11 first-year players and two transfers on its 25-player roster for this campaign, with just three seniors, Bauer led the Auggies to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and playoff championships in the 2024-25 season -- both for the first time for the Auggies since 1999-2000 -- and Augsburg's first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III national tournament. Augsburg's 24-3-1 overall record and 16-2-0 MIAC marks are both program records.

Bauer served as the full-time assistant coach at Augsburg in the 2023-24 season, as the Auggies finished 19-7-0 overall and 15-3-0 in MIAC play. As part of her duties, Bauer helped run all hockey operations and was a major part of the Auggies' recruiting efforts.

Prior to coming to Augsburg, Bauer spent two seasons as girls' hockey director for MAP Hockey, an elite off-season training center for hockey players in the Twin Cities. She also spent a year as a sports performance trainer and facility director at St. Croix Acceleration, a training center in Hudson, Wis. From 2020-2023, she was an assistant coach for the U-16 girls' team for Team Wisconsin Hockey.
 
Bauer played her collegiate hockey at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where she helped lead the Blugolds to their first three national tournament berths, two Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference O'Brien Cup Tournament championships, and one WIAC championship, while posting an overall record of 80-26-9. Scoring 37 career goals and adding 66 assists for 103 total points, Bauer holds the Blugolds' record for assists and ranks second in school history in points. In 2019-20, Bauer was named a team captain and earned a spot on the American Hockey Coaches Association/CCM Hockey Division III All-America Second Team. She earned All-WIAC first-team honors three times and honorable mention honors once, and was an AHCA Division III All-American Scholar in 2019-20.

Bauer has four siblings, including a twin sister Emily who played with her at UW-Eau Claire. Her brother played hockey at Minnesota-Crookston, and her father has been a high school hockey coach in Wisconsin for more than 30 years. A native of Wausau, Wis., Bauer earned her bachelor's degree with a major in kinesiology and a minor in coaching from UW-Eau Claire in 2020. 

The CCM/AHCA Coach of the Year awards are sponsored by CCM Hockey and chosen by members of the AHCA. CCM is the legendary hockey brand dedicated to the endless pursuit of performance by delivering game-changing, head-to-toe innovative hockey equipment to players worldwide.