Sophomore goaltender Alise Riedel stopped 27 of 28 shots to continue the women’s hockey team’s six-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory against Bethel Saturday night at home.

Riedel has given up just nine goals in the team’s last 11 games, and she has a 94 percent season save percentage.

“Our team has really been working on our defensive zone so it’s really a team effort, allowing me to save a lot more pucks,” Riedel said. “It’s really just a big team effort, everything that we’re doing right now.”

The team effort seems to be working for the Tommies.The team has its longest winning streak of the year and has gone from ninth to second place in the conference since December.

Coach Tom Palkowski said his team’s recent success is because of “hard work, plain and simple.”

“We sat and decided we were going to dedicate ourselves on and off the ice,” Palkowski said. “The kids are working their tails off, not just in practice but also in the games now.”

The dedication paid off Saturday night when three different Tommies scored goals.

Sophomore forward Kelsey Barnier helped boost the Tommies by scoring their first goal of the night and also tallied an assist on sophomore forward Maria Bothwell’s goal.

“My linemate, Christina Rozeske, went hard to the puck, creating a two on one,” Barnier said. “She passed it over to me, I got the shot, the rebound went out front…I just hit it home.”

Sophomore Jenny Saxon scored the other goal for St. Thomas.

With playoffs approaching, the team is looking to stay focused and continue its winning streak.

“Everything we are doing seems to be working right now,” Riedel said. “We are just going to keep doing what we are doing, and hopefully it will pay off in the end.”

The Tommies are back in action against St. Catherine Friday, Feb. 10, at home.

Jake Swansson can be reached at swan7230@stthomas.edu.

The No. 7-ranked men’s hockey team used goals from five different players to clinch the MIAC championship after defeating the Bethel Royals 5-2 Friday night at home.

This is the team’s first regular-season conference title since 2006, and theTommies will also be the top seed in the playoffs, despite having three MIAC games left.

After the game, senior assistant captain Chris Hickey said that he was proud of his team.

“As a player on the team, it’s great to see a bunch of guys step up,” Hickey said. “Any given guy can score at any given time, and it makes you play at ease when everyone is playing tough.”

 Coach Jeff Boeser is also proud of the team’s hard work.

“We don’t really have one superstar,” Boeser said. “We have 35 players that bring it everyday, work hard and play together. That’s been our motto all year long.”

The win also kept the team’s 10-game winning streak alive.

“We’re not thinking about the win streak,” Hickey said. “It’s tough to even think about the championship right now – the end goal is still out there.”

Freshman Chris Cass scored the team’s first goal on a power play in the second period, followed by goals from junior Travis Baker and freshman Loren French.

“I got a really nice pass from (senior) Matt Lipinski right out front and was able to put the puck in the back of the net,” French said.

Junior Riley Horgan and senior captain Rob Philipp each scored goals in the third period to clinch the win for the Tommies.

Junior goalie Tyrone Simcoe stopped 22 of 24 shots.

French and Boeser both agreed that though the team already clinched the MIAC title, “nothing changes” when it comes to thinking about the next three regular-season games.

“We’re approaching it like we have to get ready for the playoffs,” Boeser said. “We are going to keep getting better. I’m very proud of what we’ve done, but there’s always a bigger picture.

The Tommies will play the Royals again Saturday, Feb. 4, at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

 Terese Quarberg can be reached at quar3707@stthomas.edu.

The St. John’s men’s basketball team (12-7 overall, 8-6 MIAC) defeated St. Thomas (14-6, 11-4 MIAC) 61-56 Wednesday night at Schoenecker Arena, completing a regular season sweep of the Tommies for the first time since the 1993-94 season.

At halftime, the St. Thomas community honored retired coach Steve Fritz, who led the Tommies to the Division III national championship last season, by dedicating the court to him. However, St. Thomas could not come away with the win in front of near capacity crowd of 1,650.

“(The loss) really sucks, especially on dedication night to coach Steve Fritz,” junior guard John Nance said. “I really wanted to get that win for him tonight, and it just sucks for him to have a dedication night and not even get a win.”

An early run put the Tommies ahead 7-4 in the game’s opening minutes, but Johnnie senior forward Aaron Barmore kept it close by putting up 12 points in the first half.

“We didn’t get up on (Barmore) and pressure him quite well enough in the first half,” coach John Tauer said. “Their penetration hurt us quite a bit… and we just weren’t very good tonight.”

A near capacity crowd of 1,650 people turned out for the Tommie-Johnnie men’s basketball game. (Nick McAndrews/TommieMedia)

Despite a tight first half, sophomore guard Erik Tengwall ‘s 3-pointer sent the Tommies into halftime with a 29-28 lead.

Second half fizzle

The second half went back-and-fourth, but junior guard Noah Kaiser hit a deep 3-pointer to give the Tommies a 45-43 lead with 8:59 left in the game.

The turning point in the game happened when Johnnie sophomore forward Seth Marx hit a 3-pointer that sparked an 8-0 run. With 4:50 to go in the game, St. Thomas trailed 49-47 and never took back the lead.

Nance had an opportunity to pull St. Thomas closer to a tie by getting to the foul line with 37 seconds left, but he missed both attempts. Nance led the Tommies in scoring with 20 points, and his teammates were impressed by his strong play.

“John’s been picking it up as the year’s gone on,” Kaiser said. “He’s been a real strong player for us, done great things. Without him, we wouldn’t have even been in the game.”

Tauer said that this is a tough loss for his team.

“We’re certainly incredibly disappointed no matter the circumstances,” Tauer said. “We certainly fully expected to play better and put on a better show. We appreciate the crowd support, but we’re just very disappointed in how we played.”

The loss dropped St. Thomas to second place in the MIAC standings. Gustavus took first place in the conference with a 64-63 home victory over third-place St. Olaf.

The Tommies will face Augsburg (13-7, 10-5 MIAC) next, and Tauer said that his team has much to improve on before its next game.

“Defense, offense, the press… we have got to take a hard look in the mirror after a game like this,” Tauer said.

Nick McAndrews can be reached at mcan1933@stthomas.edu.

Sophomore Taylor Young’s 16 points led the women’s basketball team to a 51-46 victory over Macalester Monday night at Schoenecker Arena. The win secures a MIAC playoff spot for the team, and St. Thomas is already assured of a top-four playoff seed.

Young scored 10 of her 16 points in the second half, and the No.15-ranked Tommies used a 7-2 run in the final 40 seconds to clinch the win

“At halftime we knew that we had taken them too lightly at first, Young said. “They surprised us, and we knew we had to pick it up or we weren’t going to win.”

Macalester came out strong in the first half despite shooting just 35 percent from the field. During a 8-1 Macalester run in the final six minutes of the first half, junior Kyanna Jones scored back-to-back jumpers, and senior Jessica Rene also scored consecutive baskets.

Despite senior Ali Johnson’s 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the first half, the Tommies entered halftime down by a score of 22-20.

“They had some guards that were scoring more than we expected, and eventually we adjusted,” sophomore Maggie Weiers said.

Both teams played hard in a second half that had five ties and three lead changes.

Macalester took a 41-38 lead after senior Maggie Wood hit a 3-pointer with 6:22 left in the game.

“This is a 40 minute basketball game,” coach Ruth Sinn said. “There’s times where we’ve got to play all 40 minutes every possession, and in this last game I’m not sure if we played all 40 minutes.”

With the score tied at 44-44, St. Thomas finished the game with a 7-2 run and made 4-4 free throws in the final 41 seconds.

Senior Sarah Smith added 14 points and six rebounds, and Weiers contributed eight points and six boards.

St. Thomas was able to keep its lead and increase its winning streak to 18 games. Sinn, however, said that she is not focusing on the streak.

“We’re focusing on just being in the moment and maximizing, improving and just getting better,” Sinn said.

The 51-46 victory keeps St. Thomas in first-place in the MIAC, four games ahead of second-place Gustavus.

St. Thomas will face St. Ben’s on the road Wednesday.

“Its going to be a big game for us, we’ve never been in a position where we have swept them,” Sinn said. “We’ve been on the road a lot. We’re gonna get pumped. We’re gonna get excited about playing them and see what we can do.”

Meghan Sheldon can be reached at shel9069@stthomas.edu.

Junior Robbie Vannelli kept the men’s hockey team’s winning streak alive with his sudden-death overtime goal to defeat St. Olaf 2-1 Saturday at home.

Vannelli also scored a power-play goal in the first period, and the Tommies have now won nine consecutive games.

“I just kind of got a rebound out in front on the power play and just tried to get everything on it that I could and snuck in luckily,” Vannelli said.

With both teams scoring in the first period of the game, the Tommies and Oles battled back-and-forth until Vannelli was able to find the net four minutes into sudden-death overtime.

Juniors Travis Baker and Riley Horgan had assists on both of Vannelli’s goals.

“I got a great pass from Riley from the other side and just tried to get a shot through,” Vannelli said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had an overtime win.”

Coach Jeff Boeser said he was in “a little bit of a daze” at the end of the game.

“I didn’t know what the outcome would be,” Boeser said. “(I’m) just really proud of our guys – it’s not always pretty, but they’re just finding a way.”

Freshman goalie Drew Fielding was not too worried when the game went into overtime.

“I felt confident in our team,” Fielding said. “We have a lot of go to players in there and then obviously Robbie came up huge.”

Fielding finished the game with 24 saves, and St. Olaf goalie Ben Leis recorded 31. Fielding is now 7-0 in the net this season.

“Once (St. Olaf) scored was when I really settled in and decided that I…wouldn’t let in any more goals,” Fielding said.

Boeser said the team’s 15-3-2 record is due to hard work. The Tommies practiced at 6:30 a.m. over J-Term.

“Our kids were here every morning – we never had an issue,” Boeser said. “They’re just making those little sacrifices that you really need to have a successful season.

St. Thomas will face Bethel next weekend.

“It seems so far just kind of magical how things are working out,” Boeser said. “We’re very, very happy. They’ll enjoy it this weekend and then back to work to Monday.”

Rita Kovtun can be reached at kovt1547@stthomas.edu.

The men’s basketball team (13-4, 10-2 MIAC) had six players score in double figures Wednesday night on its way to a dominating 89-73 performance over Hamline at Schoenecker Arena.

St. Thomas used a 20-9 second half run to build a 17-point lead, and junior Zach Riedeman scored a team-high 15 points.

“(Hamline) got us here last year, and they almost beat us is the playoffs too,” junior Noah Kaiser said. “We were talking about that in the locker room, getting fired up.”

Both teams were fired up to start the game, and tempers flared early. Senior captain Peter Leslie was called for a technical foul with less than nine minutes to go in the half, and Hamline’s Tyler Parnell hit a 3-pointer shortly after to put the Pipers ahead 23-19.

“He hit me a little bit, and I was like ‘you can’t hit me,’ and I got T’d up for it,” Leslie said.

The technicals kept coming later in the first half, but this time it was Hamline’s Parnell who was whistled for a foul and a technical after shoving sophomore Erik Tengwall. Unhappy with the call, Hamline coach Nelson Whitmore voiced his displeasure with the referees but was also charged with a technical.

After the technicals, junior Will Deberg made 4-5 of free throws for St. Thomas, and the team took a 30-25 lead.

“It seems like we never have any technicals all year, and then every time we play Hamline one of us always seems to get into it,” Kaiser said. “It’s kind of a rivalry. We both play hard and are scrappy teams.”

Riedeman scored the final four points of the half for St. Thomas, and the team led 43-36 at halftime.

Second half surge

St. Thomas struggled at the start of the second half, turning the ball over four times in four minutes. The Tommies committed 11 turnovers in the second half and had 17 in the game.

Hamline capitalized on the St. Thomas mistakes, using a 11-2 run to get within five points with 10:37 left. However, Kaiser  hit a 3-pointer seconds later that would help spark a 20-9 St. Thomas run that put Hamline away.

Freshman Marcus Alipate scored 14 points off the bench, and DeBerg, Kaiser and Tengwall scored 12 points each. Junior John Nance added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.

“Hamline’s a really aggressive team,” Tauer said. “We knew it was going to be a fast-paced game.”

Brandon Rieg and Al Tillman each scored 17 points off the bench for Hamline, but St. Thomas was able to make 31-39 free throws in the game and shot 90 percent from the line in the second half.

Wednesday’s win keeps St. Thomas one-game ahead of second-place Gustavus in the MIAC. The Tommies face the Gusties Saturday on the road.

“(Gustavus) is as good a team as we’ll see,” Tauer said. “We have eight chances left in the conference, and we want to take advantage of each one. Saturday will be a great test.”

Ryan Shaver can be reached at Shav7005@stthomas.edu

The team competed in the jazz and hip hop categories in the Open Division at the College Cheerleading and Dance Team Championships in Orlando, Fla., becoming the 2012 Open Jazz national champions and the Hip Hop runner-up.

Coach Alysia Ulfers has consistently led the Tommies to first or second place national finishes in her eight years at St. Thomas. The dance team has been nationally ranked since 2004 and has placed third or higher in every competition since then.

This year’s jazz title is the fifth championship won under her leadership.

“We couldn’t really ask for more,” Ulfers said. “Winning was a proud moment for us.”

Ulfers said she strives to be innovative and prepared prior to competition.

“My goals are always just to make the girls feel ready… they can go out there and feel confident,” Ulfers said.

The winning jazz routine was choreographed by former St. Thomas dance team member Rachel Doran.

Sophomore Brittney Schubert said the routine featured extensive group work and layering.

“(It) makes it not just a dance, but a picture that keeps the audience interested,” Schubert said.

Junior captain Samantha Maroney said that teamwork was the squad’s greatest strength.

“We had a lot of new girls on the team,” Maroney said. “As captains, we wanted to bring everyone together as a team.”

Maroney and the other captains worked to build teamwork and cooperation throughout the season in practice and outside of it by spending time together and supporting one another.

Though the team got along well, it still faced its share of obstacles. Ulfers said the greatest challenge the team faces each year is anticipating the improvements in competing teams from across the nation.

“We always have to expect competition to be better and better each year,” Ulfers said.

Schubert said that anticipating tough competition helps the team stay motivated and dedicated.

“We don’t know what they’re going to bring,” Schubert said.

Though winning a national title and gaining national recognition for St. Thomas and the dance team were highlights, Ulfers said the most exciting moment of the competition was knowing “that was the best they had ever done.”

Heidi Enninga can be reached enni5264@stthomas.edu.

St. Thomas hosted its second indoor track and field invitational following last week’s season opener in the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Center Friday. The meet was not scored and included athletes from St. Thomas, St. Norbert, St. Mary’s, Bethel, MSU Moorhead and St. Catherine.

Coming into the meet, coach Steve Mathre said he was encouraged by last week’s performances.

“Last week…we had great performances,” Mathre said. “This is a meet that’s gonna have more competition and a deeper field.”

Junior Katie Ryan took third place in the 55 meter hurdle prelims (8.84) and sixth in the finals (9.04).

“It’s nice to run with quicker girls because they pull you along,” Ryan said. “I just tried to run fast between the hurdles and get low and then lean over the hurdle.”

Freshman Kayla Goeman proved to be the top competitor in the mile run once again. She took first place with a time of 5:22.32. Goeman won her first collegiate mile last week.

“It felt really good,” Goeman said. “I just tried to stay relaxed. Our coach has been doing a lot of mile pacing so it really worked out for us.”

On the men’s side, sophomore Joe Wistrcill finished third in the 55 meter hurdle prelims (8.41) and went on to the finals where he placed first (8.21).

“I’ve been stuck at 8.2 for a while,” Wistrcill said.

But Wistrcill was looking forward to next week’s meets.

“We’ve got D1 competition,” Wistrcill said. “Some really good guys that push us. 8.2 usually doesn’t win a meet so hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with those guys.”

Junior Eyo Ekpo cleared 6-9 1-2 to win the high jump.

Though the meet was not scored, Goeman was proud of both teams.

“[Coach] Sweeney always says that nobody beats us at our house,” Goeman said.

Carly Samuelson can be reached at samu5380@stthomas.edu.

Freshman Emily Vitale lifted the No. 7-ranked Amherst College Jeffs to a 2-1 victory over the St. Thomas women’s hockey team Thursday night in Mendota Heights.

Coach Tom Palkowski said he anticipated a good game from Amherst.

“I know they are a very good team, and their coach plays a good disciplined good brand of hockey,” Palkowski said.

The Jeffs showed discipline even when they were behind after St. Thomas senior captain Meghan Parker’s power-play goal from the blue line just 4:53 into the second period.

“We had traffic in front, and their goalie couldn’t see it so getting it through was the main thing,” Parker said. “We had momentum after the goal.”

The Tommies’ lead did not last long. Amherst freshman Tori Salmon scored seconds after its player came out of the penalty box and kept the score tied going into the third period.

Amherst skated strong in the third and took the lead after Vitale scored a backhanded top-corner goal halfway into the period to make the score 2-1, and it stayed like that the rest of the game.

Junior Korrinne O’Connor said after the second goal she talked with her linemates Jenny Saxton and freshman Morgan Olson.

“We knew we had to bare down and put the puck in the net,” O’Connor said. “They had a really good goalie so we tried to get the equalizer right away, but it just didn’t happen.”

Palkowski said his team can learn from the game.

“It was a good measuring stick, playing one of the top teams in the country,” Palkowski said. “We played well, but again, when you play good teams and you make a mistake, they cash it in and games over. As well as we played, it is disappointing to fall short again.”

He said the upcoming games are more important.

“We need to start to pick up the W’s.  As nice as it would have been to pick this one up, I’ll take the two this weekend,” Palkowski said.

The Tommies play St. Mary’s in Winona Saturday and at home on Sunday.

Hannah Anderson can be reached at ande5385@stthomas.edu

Yoga has a reputation for being relaxing and rejuvenating, but a recent article in the New York Times pointed out the risks associated with practicing yoga and cited cases of hyperextended necks, popped ribs and strokes.

St. Thomas is offering two traditional yoga classes over January Term that meet twice a week. One of the instructors, Kristen Lucius, believes that there is no harm in doing yoga, unless it is done wrong.

“The controversial issue is…students are not listening to their bodies,” Lucius said.

At the beginning of every class, Lucius stresses that there is no competition in yoga.

“It’s just you and the four corners of your mat…you need to do what’s best for your body,” Lucius said.

Elle Lemler, a yoga instructor filling in for Lucius’s classes this week, believes “if yoga’s causing an injury, then it’s not yoga.”

“(Yoga’s) all about respecting the body, respecting the mind and respecting the soul,” Lemler said. “To do that, you don’t push yourself past your limits of ability.”

A recent Huffington Post article said that choosing a teacher wisely is key for practicing safe yoga. There are various ways of obtaining a teaching license, including an online training option.

Lucius said this option is not as hands-on as physical training.

“Some people don’t feel like that’s the same type of learning,” Lucius said.

Sophomore Lauren Valente, a student in Lucius’s class, said she had a yoga instructor a few years ago that pushed her too hard.

“It was more gymnastics to me,” Valente said. “That kind of worried me a little bit because I didn’t think I was ready for that kind of stuff.”

Lucius and Jill Olson, another yoga instructor at St. Thomas, both went through 200 hours of training. Lucius also did an additional 100 hours to be able to teach at CorePower Yoga.

However, Lucius said that she has not come across careless instructors and has only seen yoga help students.

The men’s hockey and baseball teams have seen less injuries and improved mental focus this year because of yoga.

In addition, Lucius said that she takes precautions in her classes.

“We warn our students before doing certain things – modifications they should take,” Lucius said.

Valente said that the instructors at St. Thomas are adequately equipped to teach yoga to students.

“I’ve had such a great time in J-Term having them come in and teach us. I’ve had three different teachers, and I’ve absolutely loved it,” Valente said.

The second guideline to having a successful yoga experience according to the Huffington Post is “to leave your ego at home.”

“What happens is people are pushing themselves beyond their boundaries, (and) they’re not respecting their body,” Lemler said. “They’re listening only to their mind.”

Sophomore Anni Stringini, another student in Lucius’s class, said that she has never pushed herself too hard in yoga.

“You kind of have to know your limits, you have to just know what your body can handle and do it based on what you think you can do,” Stringini said.

Valente also knows her limits.

“As soon as I start feeling uncomfortable, I just stop,” Valente said. “I don’t really care what other people think.”

Lucius said that yoga can be for everyone, if not done carelessly.

“No matter what shape and size, if you’re aware of your body and what it’s telling you, then you will be fine,” Lucius said.

Rita Kovtun can be reached at kovt1547@stthomas.edu.