Women’s Hockey Loses in MIAC Championship
Greg Miller, Staff Writer
Augsburg women’s hockey’s streak of 11 straight wins ended in the MIAC Championship game with a 3-0 loss at Gustavus Adolphus.
The Auggies went back and forth with the Gusties for almost a period and a half before Gustavus was able to put one home on a power play in the second period. The Auggies battled hard to find a tying goal, but were unable to, and Gustavus put in two empty-net goals late in the period to seal the game. The Auggies were only able to muster 11 shots on net during the game.
The Auggies ended the year 21-6 (15-3 MIAC) and just barely missed out on the national tournament. This season’s .778 win percentage and the 15 MIAC wins were both bests in the team’s history.
The Auggies were a powerhouse team this year, finishing top-3 in the MIAC in both goals per game (3rd at 3.07) and goals against average (2nd at 1.4). Mikayla Jones, Bridget Wagner and Emily Ach all finished the season with 11 goals, which tied them for 10th best in the MIAC. McKenna Ellena and Nikki Nightengale both had 14 assists, good for 7th in the MIAC. Goalie Annie Juergens also had a fantastic season, finishing 3rd in the MIAC in goals against average and 2nd in the MIAC in save percentage.
Auggie senior forward Bridget Wagner earned co-MIAC Player of the Year honors, the fourth women’s hockey player in program history to achieve that feat. Wagner, along with Nightengale, Ach, Juergens and Mackenzie Molnar earned All-MIAC honors. Freshman Katie Flynn made it onto the MIAC All-Rookie team, and Hollywood Hermanson was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team.
The Auggies graduate 9 seniors this year, all of them playing key roles on the team, but still keep a strong core together going into next season as they push to earn their first MIAC championship.