Women's Hockey 2/22/03 -- Augsburg 3, St. Benedict 0

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ST. CLOUD, Minn. (2/22/03) -- Lauren Chezick (So., Hastings, Minn.) had a goal and two assists to set a school single-season scoring record, Annie Annunziato (Jr., Commack, N.Y.) added three assists and goalie Kristin Johnson (So., Minnetonka, Minn./Wayzata HS) scored her second straight shutout to set a single-season school mark, as Augsburg College clinched a berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's hockey playoffs with a 3-0 win over the College of St. Benedict on Saturday afternoon at the St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Center.

With the win, Augsburg clinched the final berth in the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs, reaching the postseason for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign. No. 5 Augsburg (12-10-3 overall, 10-6-2 MIAC) will face No. 4 St. Mary's University (10-9-6 overall, 10-4-4 MIAC) in the "play-in" game on Thursday (2/27) at 7 p.m. at the Bielenberg Sports Center in Woodbury, Minn., with the winner to face MIAC regular-season titlist St. Thomas on Friday (2/28) at 5 p.m., also at Bielenberg.

Earlier this season (Nov. 22-23), Augsburg swept St. Mary's in a two-game MIAC series, winning 4-0 and 6-1; however, St. Mary's clinched its berth in the playoffs this weekend with a two-game sweep of St. Thomas, winning 3-2 on Friday and 4-3 in overtime on Saturday.

After starting the season 0-5, Augsburg has won 12 of its final 20 games, with three ties, to close the regular season. Augsburg has won five of its last eight games (5-1-2).

Chezick had an eight-point weekend (four goals, four assists) against St. Benedict to break Augsburg's single-season scoring record, previously held by Angie Rieger. Chezick now has 25 goals and a single-season school-record 31 assists for 56 points in 25 games. Rieger had 28 goals and 26 assists for 53 points in 28 games in Augsburg's Division III national runner-up season of 1999-2000.

Chezick's linemate, Annunziato, also topped the 50-point mark on Saturday with her three-assist performance, giving her 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points. Chezick, Annunziato and Rieger are the only three Auggies to ever break the 50-point barrier in a single season (U.S. varsity opponents only).

Augsburg controlled the tempo of Saturday's game, allowing few St. Benedict chances to score. The Blazers (4-18-2 overall, 3-13-2 MIAC) were outshot by a 43-26 margin in the game.

With 26 saves, Johnson recorded her sixth shutout of the season, breaking Augsburg's single-season school record (varsity opponents only) of five, set by Meg Schmidt in the 1999-2000 season. It also marked the fifth time (second against varsity opponents) that an Auggie goalie has recorded shutouts in consecutive starts, and the first time an Auggie goalie has accomplished the feat against varsity foes in back-to-back games. Karlyn Marshall scored consecutive shutouts twice while splitting time with Schmidt in the 1996-97 (club opponents) and 1997-98 (varsity opponents) seasons, and Heather Hanson accomplished the feat twice in the 1995-96 season, both pairs of shutouts against club foes in Augsburg's inaugural season.

Augsburg opened the scoring at the 3:19 mark of the first period, when Laura Prasek (So., Fridley, Minn.) scored a power-play goal on a rebound in front on assists from Chezick and Annunziato.

The Auggies scored at the 1:03 mark of the second period, when Chezick scored on assists from Annunziato and Melynda Kleewein (So., Anchorage, Alaska/Dimond HS). The Auggies clinched the game on an empty-net goal by Carrie Velenchenko (So., Maple Grove, Minn.) with 48 seconds to play, on assists from Chezick and Velenchenko.

Augsburg's first line of Annunziato, Chezick and Velenchenko is the top scoring line statistically in the nation. The trio, with Velenchenko's eight goals and 17 assists, now has accounted for 55 of Augsburg's 86 goals (64.0 percent) and 133 of Augsburg's 216 points (61.6 percent) this season.

Kate Hall (Jr., Calgary, Alberta/Dr. D.P. Scarlett HS) made 40 saves in a losing effort in goal for St. Benedict.

Augsburg 3, St. Benedict 0
Augsburg 1-1-1---3
St. Benedict 0-0-0---0
1st Period: AUG -- Prasek (Chezick, Annunziato), 3:19 (pp).
2nd Period: AUG -- Chezick (Annunziato, Kleewein), 1:03.
3rd Period: AUG -- Velenchenko (Chezick, Annunziato), 19:22 (empty net).

Shots on Goal -- Augsburg 15-16-12--43, St. Benedict 7-11-8--26.
Goalie Saves -- AUG: Johnson 7-11-8--26; CSB-Hall 14-15-11--40 (2:48 empty net).
Penalties -- Augsburg 7 for 14, St. Benedict 7 for 14.
Power Plays -- Augsburg 1 for 6, St. Benedict 0 for 5.