Jackson Gerber, Sports Editor

The Augsburg women’s hockey team’s season came to a close this past Saturday as they were defeated by Hamline 6–1 in the semifinals of the MIAC playoff tournament.

After a scoreless first period, Hamline scored four consecutive goals in the first 10 minutes of the second period before Nikki Nightengale put one in the back of the net to make it 4–1. Unfortunately, that would be the only offense for the Auggies, as the Pipers scored two more times late in the third period to seal the 6–1 victory and advance to the MIAC championship game. The goal was Nightengale’s 13th on the season, which is tied for fifth in the conference and leads all MIAC defenders. Junior goalie Annie Juergens had 24 saves in the contest.

With the postseason coming to an end, six Auggies were awarded with All-MIAC honors. Megan Johnson, Bridget Wagner and Nikki Nightengale received All-MIAC conference team honors, while Valerie Whichello and Mackenzie Molnar received honorable mentions. McKenna Manalli was named to the All-MIAC sportsmanship team as well. To go along with her All-Conference honors, Johnson was awarded the prestigious Sheila Brown award which is given to the top senior women’s hockey student athlete in the MIAC Conference. Johnson is the fourth Auggie to win the award in the program’s history.

This was the fourth year in a row that the women’s hockey team has made it to the MIAC postseason playoffs and recorded 13 or more victories. The team will say goodbye to forwards Johnson, Jacie Hoehn, Bailey Beane and Kayla Murray; defenders Bridget Walter, Whichello and goalie Manalli. All seven of these seniors have played major roles in the program’s recent string of success.

The Auggies will look forward to next season where they will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in the MIAC.

This article was originally published in the March 1, 2019 issue.