Aurora University women's hockey graduate assistant Gracen Hirschy signed a professional contract in the SDHL and Djurgården out of Stockholm, Sweden.

The SDHL is a women's professional league and Djurgården are the defending champs with the regular season winding down. Currently in 4th place out of 10 teams, the club signed Hirschy for the regular season stretch run and upcoming playoffs.

"I'm thankful for the opportunity to coach at Aurora University as it helped me to see the game in a different way," said Hirschy. "I have no doubt that this growth will help me in my continued playing career. Thank you to Grant Kimball and the women's hockey team for renewing my passion in the game and assisting in my personal and professional development."

Hirschy became a member of the AU Spartan women's hockey program after a four-year playing career at the University of North Dakota. In her four years on defense at North Dakota, Hirschy played in 145 games, scoring 26 goals of which five were game-winning goals, four on the power-play and one was short-handed. She added 40 assists and was a plus-36 for her career, as a senior was an assistant captain. She was on the 2013-2014 WCHA All-Rookie Team and the UND Rookie of the Year. In the classroom, she was a three-time WCHA All-Academic Team recipient.

"I couldn't be happier for Gracen to take this opportunity to continue her playing career in Sweden," said AU Women's Hockey Head Coach Grant Kimball. "We are certainly going to miss her, she was such an important part of the success we had in our first year as a program. She will certainly be missed by our players and the rest of our staff."

The Spartans recently completed the program's first season of action with a 5-19-1 overall record and 4-14-0 in NCHA play.

A national search to find a replacement on the AU women's hockey staff will begin immediately.