Augustine Finishes Season as Sullivan Award FInalist

New York, NY -- Michigan State sophomore goaltender Trey Augustine (South Lyon, Mich.) finished his season as a finalist for the 95th Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) James E. Sullivan Award recipient, as announced on Tuesday evening at the New York Athletic Club.

The AAU Sullivan Award honors the most outstanding collegiate, Olympic or similar level athlete in the United States. It has been presented annually by the AAU since 1930 as a salute to founder and past president of the Amateur Athletic Union, and pioneer in amateur sports, James E. Sullivan. Based on the qualities of leadership, character, sportsmanship, and the ideals of amateurism, the AAU Sullivan Award goes far beyond athletic accomplishments and honors those who have shown strong moral character.

AAU selected 39 semifinalists, which includes premier collegiate athletes, Olympic champions, and paralympic stars. The list was whittled to six finalists in late February, which included Cooper Flagg (Basketball, Duke), Ashton Jeanty (Football, Boise State), Lee Kiefer (Fencing, USA Fencing), Ilia Malinin (Figure Skating, USA Figure Skating) and Lexi Rodriguez (Volleyball, Nebraska). Augustine is just the fourth hockey player in the 95 years of the award to be a finalist and the second to hail from Michigan State: Jeff Lerg was a finalist in 2007.

A First Team All-American and Big Ten Goaltender of the Year in 2024-25 as well as a record-breaking standout for USA Hockey, Augustine is one of the top professional prospects in all of college hockey. A second-round (no. 41) draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings at the 2023 NHL draft, he has won five medals at IIHF juniors (U18 and U20) events and skated for Team USA in the 2024 men's senior World Championships, one of two collegians among a roster of NHL players.

The 20-year-old is twice a Mike Richter Award candidate as the top goaltender in college hockey for the second straight season, and is the youngest starting goaltender in college hockey as well. He has helped elevate Michigan State hockey back into the national spotlight, backstopping MSU to back-to-back Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles – the first team in league history to accomplish the feat. In his two seasons at Michigan State, he has been a part of more than 50 victories (51-17-7, .740). The Spartans earned two straight No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament; last season, MSU returned to NCAA's for the first time since 2012 and picked up its first NCAA win since 2008.

He also led Team USA to a second consecutive gold medal at the 2025 IIHF World Junior (U20) Championships in January, the first-ever back-to-back gold medals for Team USA. Augustine became the winningest goaltender in Team USA History at the IIHF World Junior Championships, with 12 all-time victories in a record three appearances. Overall, he is a five-time medal winner for Team USA at U20 World Juniors (2025-gold; 2024-gold; 2023-bronze) and U18 Worlds (2023-gold; 2022-silver). He was the starting goalie in each of the Gold Medal tournaments, and last spring he made his first men's Team USA senior World Championship squad, playing four games with a roster primarily made up of NHL players.

Only five times previously – and never for Team USA - had a goaltender won two gold medals in U20 World Junior play (Marc Denis (CAN), Jamie Storr (CAN), Yevgeni Belosheikin (URS), Andrei Medvedev (RUS), Alexander Tyzhnykh (URS). Augustine ages out of the U20 World Junior eligibility behind having won three medals (two golds, one bronze), something done only three times previously (Kari Lehtonen (FIN), Yevgeni Belosheikin (URS), Andrei Vasilevski (RUS).

With three combined junior gold (U18 and U20), Augustine is among elite company, as it has only been done by seven fellow Americans - fellow goalie Jack Campbell, and skaters Seth Jones, Jacob Trouba, Jason Zucker, Rocco Grimaldi, Gabe Perrault, and Zeev Buium.

Back on campus, Augustine led the Big Ten in wins (19, eighth NCAA), save percentage (.924, 14th NCAA), goals against average (2.08, 15th NCAA), ranks second in minutes played (1850:27, 17^th NCAA), and third in both games played (30), and saves (778). He improved his GAA by nearly a goal from his freshman season (2.97 GAA) and improved his season save percentage from .915 to .924. He was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team for the second consecutive season, making 38 saves in a double-overtime victory over Ohio State in the finals. Augustine also contributed an 18-save shutout in the semifinals vs. Notre Dame, combining for a 1.16 GAA and .949 save percentage in more than 155 minutes over two games.

Augustine's impressive numbers between the pipes in 2024-25 have come against some of the most lethal scorers in the country. The goalie faced 12 of the nation's point-per-game scorers in a combined 17 games this season (of Augustine's 30 played) and has allowed 13 goals (and 28 points) to those players. Two-thirds (18 of 29) of Augustine's starts came against offenses that average 3.0 goals per game or better. In those 18 games, Augustine has a .920 save percentage and 2.29 GAA.

The season statistics for Augustine in 2024-25 are some of the best for an MSU goaltender in the last decade. Augustine's .924 save percentage was the best since Jake Hildebrand's .930 in 2014-15, the year he was the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year. His 2.08 is the lowest goals against average since Jeff Lerg posted a 1.94 in his freshman season, (2005-06).

Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

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