RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- For the second straight year, Augsburg University women's hockey defender
Nora Stepan (SR, Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) was named to the CCM Hockey/
American Hockey Coaches Association Division III All-America Team, named as a West Region second-team honoree, it was announced on Thursday.
It's the third All-American honor for Stepan; she earned
CCM Hockey/AHCA All-American West Region first-team honors and
DIIIHockeyNews.com All-America second-team honors last season. Earlier this year, Stepan was named
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year, becoming just the third Auggie women's hockey player and 27th MIAC women's hockey player to earn All-MIAC honors all four years of their careers.
The honor brings to nine the number of Augsburg women's hockey players honored as AHCA Division III All-Americans since the coaches organization began awards for women's hockey in 2000.
Kayla Simonson (SO, Delano, Minn./Delano HS) and Emily Cronkhite '25 joined Stepan as All-Americans last season, Nikki Nightengale '20 earned the honor twice, in
2018-19 and
2019-20;
Annie Annunziato '04 was named to the squad in 2003-04,
Lauren Chezick '05 was named to the squad in the 2002-03 season, and
Angie Rieger '01 was an honoree in 1999-2000. Augsburg has now had 17 women's hockey All-Americans honored by various organizations since the sport began at the university in 1995.
Stepan finished her senior season leading the Auggies in all three scoring categories, with 17 goals and 15 assists for 32 points,
leading the MIAC in overall statistics in goals scored and second in goals per-game (0.63), second in points scored and first in points per-game (1.19), while tied for fourth in assists and assists per-game (0.56). Her 17 goals are
most among all NCAA Division III defenders nationally and tied for 18th among all players regardless of position. Her 32 points are third-most among defenders nationally. She had a goal or assist in 19 of her 27 games played this season, with 12 multiple-point games.
The
MIAC Rookie of the Year in the 2022-23 season, Stepan played in a school-record-tying 109 games in her collegiate career, with 49 goals and 50 assists for 99 career points, a plus-89 plus-minus rating, 13 power-play goals and 13 game-winning goals. She finished her career tied for fourth in school history in career points, tied for fifth in goals scored, tied for second in game-winning goals, third in power-play goals, and tied for fifth in assists. Her plus-89 plus-minus rating is second-best in school history.
Under second-year head coach
Elizabeth Bauer, Augsburg finished the 2025-26 season with a 21-5-1 overall record and 15-2-1 mark in MIAC play, winning the conference regular-season championship for the fourth time in school history and second year in a row, qualifying for the NCAA Division III national tournament for the second straight year.
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.
