The women’s basketball team has won 20 games in a row and has not lost a game in the MIAC. This week’s Tommie Spotlight features sophomore forward Taylor Young who leads the team with 13.2 points per game and has been dominant on defense.

This is Sports in :60 for Monday, Feb. 6, 2012.

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.

Senior Daniel Cooper gets some air during Saturday's match. (Caroline Rode/TommieMedia)

The men’s tennis team won its first match of the season against the University of Wisconsin- LaCrosse Saturday at home. 

The Tommies defeated the Eagles 7-2, and the loss drops Wisconsin-LaCrosse to 0-2 on the season.

“It was a great way to start the season,” senior Daniel Cooper said. “It’s really important to start it on a positive note, so I think we did that.”

Cooper and his doubles partner junior Brian McCarthy won their match 8-2.

“We played pretty well, and we were serving really well,” Cooper said.

Cooper said that though his doubles team won, there is still room for improvement.

“We’re just gonna keep working hard all season and think of it as a marathon instead of a sprint,” Cooper said.

For McCarthy, who plays No.1 singles, it was a close win in his match with scores of 6-4, 6-7, 5-7 and 11-9.

“I kind of had some jitters out there, but I’m glad I won,” McCarthy said.

Coach Terry Peck said that he was pleased with the outcome of Saturday’s match.

“Some of our players followed their game plans really well,” Peck said. “Overall I was real happy.”

Peck said that he was most pleased with his team taking two out of three doubles matches.

“That’s what I was hoping to start with so I’m happy about how it went,” Peck said. “ I definitely found a few things that we need to work on, and we need to have a clear understanding of what we’re doing out there. We’re working hard and having fun doing it. It’s a good place to be.”

The Tommies’ next match will be against the winner of the St. John’s Gustavus match on Feb. 11.

Caroline Rode can be reached at rode8318@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.

This is Sports in :60 for Friday, Feb. 3, 2012.

Junior Kirsten Haukoos runs sprints during practice. Coach Terry Peck said that the women's team is young this year and will "go through some growing pains." (Baihly Warfield/TommieMedia)

The men’s team ended last season with an overall record of 15-4 (7-2 MIAC). The Tommies will start this season ranked No. 15 in the Central Region rankings, a position that coach Terry Peck is proud of.

“The men’s (team) is ranked in the region, which is really good because it’s a very strong region,” Peck said. “We cracked the top 15 teams, which is pretty good.”

The women’s team finished with an 11-5 record (6-4 MIAC). The Tommies earned the fifth seed in the MIAC playoffs but lost their first match.

Sophomore Rachel Wright has enjoyed practicing with some of the new members of the team.

“I’m looking forward to all the new freshman and recruits,” Wright said. “It’s a good group of girls, and we’ve had a lot of fun so far.”

Peck is also excited about the young talent he has been working with during the winter.

“We have a real solid team coming back and some excellent freshmen,” Peck said.

Peck is coaching the youngest women’s team he has ever had this season, and he said that it may be a challenge.

“We’re going to go through some growing pains,” he said. “But I look forward to them developing into a top team.”

Senior Daniel Cooper said that the players have trained hard and have had some beneficial captain’s practices over the winter.

“It’s going to be a new team,so it’s going to be exciting to see what happens,” Cooper said.

Peck is looking forward to a great season from junior Brian McCarthy, who played in the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Tournament last spring.

“Battling (Brian) for the top spot in the lineup will be our No. 1 from last year, Brendan O’Connell,” Peck said.

When asked about the toughest competition the teams will face, the unanimous agreement was that Gustavus and Carleton will be the most difficult opponents.

“Gustavus and Carleton are always our biggest opponents,” junior Kirsten Haukoos said. “Hopefully we’ll have a tough match against them and come out victorious.”

The men’s next home match is against the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Feb. 4. The women’s team will participate in the alumni game on Feb. 5.

Baihly Warfield can be reached at warf3860@stthomas.edu.

This is Sports in :60 for Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012.

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.

This is Sports in :60 for Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012.