Women’s hockey announces ‘22-23 conference schedule

St. Thomas women’s hockey released its 2022-23 conference schedule Monday. The Tommies will play 28 games; 14 at St. Thomas Ice Arena and 14 on the road.

The Tommies open their WCHA season against Wisconsin on Oct. 7 and 8. The Badgers outscored the Tommies 15-3 in three games last season with Wisconsin being ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the country during those games.

St. Thomas Ice Arena will host its first Tommie women’s game on Oct. 21 when St. Thomas takes on Minnesota State-Mankato. The Mavericks defeated the Tommies 3-1 when they faced off during a snowy day on Hockey Day in Minnesota Jan. 22.

Defending NCAA champion Ohio State will find itself in Mendota Heights on Nov. 4 and 5 while the Tommies will visit Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 10 and 11.

In their first year of Division I hockey, the Tommies finished 5-27-1 with their best stretch coming when they went 4-3-1 during the month of October. St. Thomas went down two players and a head coach due to the 2022 Winter Olympics as first-year goalie Saskia Maurer and first-year defender Nicole Vallario finished fourth for Switzerland while coach Joel Johnson took home silver as the bench boss for the U.S.

First-year forward Abby Promersberger led the Tommies in points with 13 in 33 games while junior forwards Allie Monrean and Luci Bianchi tied for the lead in goals with six.

Senior goalie Alexa Dobchuk started 23 games for the Tommies, posting an .897 save percentage while stopping the sixth most shots in the NCAA this year with 846. The transfer from Colgate does have an extra year of eligibility but it is unknown if she will return.

Scout Mason can be reached at maso7275@stthomas.edu.