MINNEAPOLIS – For the second straight game, Aunna Schulte (FY, Bolingbrook, Minn./Plainfield East HS) scored the game-winning goal in overtime, scoring 11:03 into the extra session to give Augsburg University its second-ever Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff championship, and first since the 1999-2000 season, in a 3-2 triumph over Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday evening at Ed Saugestad Rink.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 3, Gustavus 2 (OT)
LOCATION: Ed Saugestad Rink, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 23-3-1 overall, Gustavus 21-6-0 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Schulte scored her second goal of the game, and 11th of the season, with nine seconds left in a power play midway through the overtime session, lifting a wrist shot in the slot over the Gustavus goalie's shoulder, following assists from Emma Abrahamson (SO, Carpentersville, Ill./Hampshire HS) and Tenley Stewart (JR, Esko, Minn./Esko HS). The goal was her second straight overtime game-winner, after scoring 8:06 into the fourth overtime last Saturday in Augsburg's 3-2 semifinal win over Saint Mary's University.
• With the victory, Augsburg clinches the MIAC's automatic berth in the 12-team NCAA Division III national tournament, its first-ever NCAA national tournament berth. Selections will be annouced on an online selection show on the NCAA.com website on Sunday (3/9) at 7:30 p.m. Central time. Augsburg is currently ranked No. 2 nationally in the NCAA's NPI Index, and is potentially in line to receive a first-round bye and host a quarterfinal game on Saturday, March 22.
• Schulte scored her first goal at the 16:16 mark of the second period, giving the Auggies a 2-1 lead on a rebound in the slot off a shot from Livia Brehm (JR, Detroit Lakes, Minn./Stillwater HS). Kiley Wahlin (SR, Blaine, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) received the second assist.
• Nora Stepan (JR, Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) opened the scoring for the Auggies with an unusual goal at the 9:36 mark of the first period. Her initial shot from the high slot was blocked by a Gustavus defender, who fell to her knees, sliding backwards with the puck under her. Stepan worked the puck away from the defender and popped it in the net for her team-leading 16th goal of the season.
• Augsburg was outshot by a 39-31 margin by Gustavus in the game, but first-year goalie Kayla Simonson (FY, Delano, Minn./Delano HS) came up big again, claiming 37 saves to improve to 14-3-0 on the season.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• MIAC regular-season champion Augsburg, the top seed in the five-team MIAC playoffs, earned its second playoff title. It is the fourth time Augsburg 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.
• Augsburg's 23 victories are now its most in any campaign in the 30-season history of the women's hockey program. 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
• Brooke Power scored an unassisted goal for Gustavus at the 11:01 mark of the second period, and Noelle Hemr scored from Lily Mortenson and Hannah Thompson at the 10:32 mark of the third period for the Gusties.
• Lily Timmons had 28 saves in goal for Gustavus.