MIAC Hockey Athletes-of-the-Week for Nov. 12, 2012

Mike Hill, Saint Mary’s
Fort Worth, Texas / Alaska-Fairbanks

After one weekend of conference play, Saint Mary’s found itself in a three-way tie atop the men’s hockey standings thanks to a big sweep of Hamline to start the MIAC season. Sophomore Mike Hill (Fort Worth, Texas/Alaska-Fairbanks) had his fingerprints all over both wins, as he racked up four goals and three assists over the weekend for a breakout seven-point performance, and his 11 points this season are the second-most in all of NCAA Division III. For his performance, Hill is the inaugural winner of the MIAC Men’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week award in 2012-13.

Hill – who has at least one point in each of his five games thus far – got off to a great start in conference play with two goals and an assist to lead the Cardinals to a convincing 9-2 win over Hamline to open MIAC play Friday night. He followed with two more goals and two assists in Saturday’s 6-2 win over the Pipers to finish with four goals and three assists in the sweep, and a plus-minus of plus-5. This season, Hill’s 11 points lead the MIAC, while his five goals are tied for the most in the league and his six goals rank second. He has two more goals and two more points than anyone else in the MIAC in conference play after one weekend.

Saint Mary’s has been one of the MIAC’s brightest surprises thus far in 2012-13. The Cardinals are 4-2 overall and 2-0 in MIAC play, tied atop the standings with St. Thomas and Bethel with four points. SMU will hope to keep its momentum going after a 14-day break, as Saint Mary’s is off until a Nov. 24 trip to Adrian for a nonconference game. SMU returns to MIAC play on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, with a home-and-home series against St. Olaf.

MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week

Madison Gendreau, Concordia
Bismarck, N.D. / Bismarck

The Concordia women’s hockey team got off to a great start in conference play over the weekend, sweeping St. Olaf in a pair of one-goal games to win a series between MIAC Playoff teams from a year ago. The playmaking of sophomore Madison Gendreau (Bismarck, N.D.) was a big reason for the Cobbers’ success, as she had a hand in four of the team’s six goals in the two victories. For her performance, Gendreau was named the first MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week of the 2012-13 season.

Gendreau got off to a particularly good start in conference play with a three-point night in Concordia’s MIAC opener. The forward had one goal and two assists as the Cobbers won a 3-2 road game Friday, and they responded with another victory Saturday by the exact same score. Gendreau tallied one assist in Saturday’s victory to complete her four-point weekend, and she had a plus-minus of plus-3 in the two wins. Gendreau has five points in six games this season, which is the fourth-highest total in the MIAC, while her four assists rank third in the league. Her four points and three assists in conference play both share the MIAC lead.

All five MIAC series were sweeps last week, so Concordia is currently tied atop the standings with a 2-0 league record and four points with four other teams, as the other five teams all began 0-2. Overall, the Cobbers are 3-1-2 so far in 2012-13. Concordia hopes to keep its hot start alive with another big MIAC series this weekend. The Cobbers host Bethel Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, on their home ice in Moorhead. Both teams qualified for the MIAC Playoffs last season.