Great day for men's soccer!

It's a great day for men's soccer at Augsburg. The Auggies earned a berth in the NCAA Division III national tournament for the first time in school history, and will travel out west to Spokane, Wash., for a game at Whitworth on Thursday at 1 p.m. (3 p.m. Twin Cities time).

The national tournament bid is the culmination of a tremendous season for the Auggies, head coach Greg Holker and his staff. Reaching the MIAC playoffs for the second time in the last three years, and reaching the finals with a 3-0 semifinal win at Gustavus was incredible. Then, the finals at Carleton on Saturday ... the team played its heart out in freezing-cold weather, and despite not winning the penalty-kick shootout, it was still a classic game, and as a spectator there, I was definitely proud of the effort our team gave.

Seven years ago, the Augsburg men's soccer team was 4-11-2 ... now, the Auggies are 11-3-6, one of its best seasons since the glory days of the late 70s and early 80s, and now they're going to the national tournament for the first time in school history. What a team!

We have playoff information online for Thursday's game. Whitworth is planning to have live coverage of the game -- live statistics and probably live video. We'll keep you posted.