Augsburg’s Elizabeth Bauer Honored As 2024-25 CCM/AHCA Division III Women’s Coach of the Year

For leading her team to a 24-3-1 record heading into the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Ice Hockey Championships, Elizabeth Bauer of Augsburg University has been chosen by her peers as the 2025 CCM/AHCA Women’s Division III Coach of the Year. It is the first time that an Augsburg coach has been so honored and just the second MIAC coach to win the award.

Augsburg meets defending champion and Frozen Four host UW-River Falls at 7:00 pm CT on Friday evening. The 3:00 semifinal features NESCAC rivals Amherst and Middlebury.

Elizabeth “Biz” Bauer was named the third head coach in the 30-season history of Augsburg women’s hockey in September 2024. Inheriting a team that had lost seven players to graduation and had 11 first-year players and two transfers on its 25-player roster for this campaign, with just three seniors, Bauer led the Auggies to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and playoff championships in the 2024-25 season -- both for the first time for the Auggies since 1999-2000 -- and Augsburg’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III national tournament. Augsburg’s 24-3-1 overall record and 16-2-0 MIAC marks are both program records.

Bauer served as the full-time assistant coach at Augsburg in the 2023-24 season, as the Auggies finished 19-7-0 overall and 15-3-0 in MIAC play. Prior to coming to Augsburg, Bauer spent two seasons as girls’ hockey director for MAP Hockey, an elite off-season training center for hockey players in the Twin Cities. She also spent a year as a sports performance trainer and facility director at St. Croix Acceleration, a training center in Hudson, Wis. From 2020-2023, she was an assistant coach for the U-16 girls’ team for Team Wisconsin Hockey.

Bauer played her collegiate hockey at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where she helped lead the Blugolds to their first three national tournament berths, two Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference O’Brien Cup Tournament championships, and one WIAC championship, while posting an overall record of 80-26-9. Scoring 37 career goals and adding 66 assists for 103 total points, Bauer holds the Blugolds’ record for assists and ranks second in school history in points. In 2019-20, Bauer was named a team captain and earned a spot on the American Hockey Coaches Association/CCM Hockey Division III All-America Second Team. She earned All-WIAC first-team honors three times and honorable mention honors once, and was an AHCA Division III All-American Scholar in 2019-20.

Bauer has four siblings, including a twin sister Emily who played with her at UW-Eau Claire. Her brother played hockey at Minnesota-Crookston, and her father has been a high school hockey coach in Wisconsin for more than 30 years. A native of Wausau, Wis., Bauer earned her bachelor’s degree with a major in kinesiology and a minor in coaching from UW-Eau Claire in 2020. She will receive her award at the AHCA Convention on Monday, May 5, in Bonita Springs, FL.

Bauer was assisted this year by Nicole Neuberger and Annie Rydel. The runner-up for this year's award was last year's recipient, Joe Cranston of UW-River Falls.

The CCM AHCA COACH of the YEAR AWARDS are sponsored by CCM HOCKEY and chosen by members of the AMERICAN HOCKEY COACHES ASSOCIATION. 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.

Winners of the CCM/AHCA Women’s Division III Coach of the Year Award
2000	Ted Wisner, Colgate
2001	Bill Mandigo, Middlebury
2002	Jamie Wood, Elmira
2003	Michele Amidon, Bowdoin
2004	Bill Mandigo, Middlebury
2005	Bill Mandigo, Middlebury
2006	Kevin Houle, Plattsburgh State
2007	Kevin Houle, Plattsburgh State
2008	Kevin Houle, Plattsburgh State
2009	Jim Plumer. Amherst College
2010	Mark Bolding, Norwich
2011	Mark Bolding, Norwich
2012	Mark Bolding, Norwich
2013	Kevin Houle, Plattsburgh State
2014	Kevin Houle, Plattsburgh State
2015	Dean Jackson, Elmira
2016	Kevin Houle, Plattsburgh State
2017	Chad Davis, Adrian College
2018	Mark Bolding, Norwich
2019	Tom Palkowski, St. Thomas
2020	Kevin Houle, Plattsburgh State
2021	Not Awarded
2022	Bill Mandigo, Middlebury
2023	Emily McNamara, Hamilton
2024	Joe Cranston, Wisconsin-River Falls
2025	Elizabeth Bauer, Augsburg