Darwtiz finds balance with hockey and family

Former Gopher and Olympian Natalie Darwitz is, and always has been, a winner. Sometimes it can take longer to ascend to the top, but inevitably in her charmed hockey career Darwitz always makes there.

She’s won two national titles with the Gophers and two silver medals at the Olympics as a player and she made it to the state tournament as a coach at Lakeville South last season. She even dabbled as a broadcaster for NBC during the 2014 Winter Olympics — and was well thought of by her peers.

Now Darwitz has a new challenge, as the head hockey coach at Hamline University.

“I want to help grow women’s hockey,” Darwtiz told me by phone. “My goal is to continue to grow the game any way possible.”

Even by Twitter, which is how this foray into coaching began.

“I knew something was up when the Athletic Director at Hamline (Jason Verdugo) followed me on Twitter,” Darwitz said with a giggle.

A follow up phone call led to a lunch, which led to her hire and the chance to become an ambassador for the game that she loves. With the job in hand she immediately realized the magnitude of the task ahead of her.

Simply getting the word out about Division III hockey would be a job in itself. But it’s a labor of love. Darwitz hopes to be able to play games at different places around the state just to try and reach players who might not see Division III women’s college hockey as an option.

“There are a lot of good players that could step in right now and make an impact on a D-III team,” Darwitz says. “And they think, ‘Ummm, I am just going to go into medicine and be a regular student.’ That’s a little disheartening. Because the one thing I try to tell those kids is that, ‘You have the rest of your life to be an average Joe. You can squeeze in four more years to be a student-athlete.’”

When she’s not trying to inform recruits of the enjoyment of playing college hockey, she’s trying to convince others that the level at which you do it shouldn’t matter.

Natalie Darwitz (Photo courtesy of Hamline University Athletics)

“So often there is a perception that I have to do D-1 and that playing D-III is a knock to my ego,” Darwitz explains. “It’s not; you just lack some skill or hockey awareness to not be on a D-1 roster.”

Teaching that skill is also a big part of her job. A lot her players at Hamline are still learning how to take their game to the next level. And while Darwtiz was one of — if not the— best of her time in women’s ice hockey, teaching others to be like her is not easy and, frankly, not her goal. Instead she focuses on going back to the basics and eventually building up.

“It takes a lot of ingredients to make cookies. Same thing when you play a 5-on-5 game,” she explains. “You have to do it first 1-on-0, 1-on-1, so we’re breaking stuff down.”

While this next step in her coaching career wasn’t necessarily planned, it will be where she stays for a while. Darwtiz and her husband Chris just had their first child over the summer and she is enjoying being able to be home with Joseph during the day while continuing to be around the game she loves.

“What resonated with me is that division III hockey would allow me to be at home when my son was born and be a stay at home mom and then allow me a couple of hours a day to be coaching,” she says. “It just kind of gives me a little more balance and stability in life.”

But when you’re arguably the most famous name in the game in which you’re coaching, people constantly want to know when or if you’ll try to coach at the highest level. But Natalie Darwitz knows that coaching at the highest level comes with the highest level of time commitment, something she is just not ready to commit to at this point in her life.

“Hockey is always going to be a part of my life, it’s just a matter of what percentage of my day is it going to take up,” says Darwtiz. “When my son gets older and hopefully plays, will I have to take a step back? I don’t know. The last thing I want to do is to be so busy helping other kids that I don’t get to see my own kid play.”

For now, she is excited about the task ahead of her at Hamline and the balance it provides between her two greatest loves; hockey and family, both of which she is committed to turning into winners.

The post Schwartz: The best of both worlds appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

AROUND THE LEAGUE Take a look at this week’s top hockey news items, headlines and interesting facts from the MIAC’s institutions, submitted by each school’s sports information director.

HAMLINE | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Men’s hockey enters critical stage of season The HU men’s hockey team split a pair of games last weekend at Concordia, winning 2-0 and losing 4-1. That kept the Pipers in the thick of the conference race with 16 points. That’s a mere two behind Augsburg and St. John’s (who are tied for fourth) and three behind third place St. Mary’s. And guess who Hamline plays in the final three series of the year? Yep. St. John’s this weekend, followed by Augsburg and St. Mary’s.

SAINT CATHERINE | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Wildcats end MIAC winless streak with win, tie vs. Bethel After going five-straight MIAC games without a win, the Wildcats finally snapped the streak with a 3-2 win Friday night thanks to a hat trick from senior Megan Killmer. Then, behind a 38-save performance from Abbi White in goal Saturday, the Wildcats managed a 0-0 tie for the second time this season. With the hat trick, Killmer moves to No. 9 all-time at St. Kate’s in points (63) and No. 10 in goals (29). White currently leads the MIAC and Division III in save percentage (.959) and goals against average (1.09).

SAINT JOHN’S | MIAC Member Page | Athletics home page | Mr. Clutch Saint John’s sophomore forward Kevin Becker (Roseville, Minn.) was clutch in the Johnnies’ hockey series against Gustavus Adolphus, in which SJU picked up five of the six possible points on the weekend. Down 1-0 Friday night, Becker tallied the game-tying goal, on the power play, with 3:07 remaining in the game. SJU later earned the extra point with a 1-0 shootout win. Three minutes after SJU tied Saturday night’s game with a shorthanded goal, Becker scored the game-winner with 1:53 left in the 3-2 win in St. Peter. The win was just the second for SJU in the last nine meetings at Don Roberts Ice Rink (2-5-2 record). The Johnnies (9-5-5, 5-3-2 MIAC) take on Hamline for a home-and-home series this weekend, beginning with a 7 p.m. game on Friday, Feb. 6, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. Not so rare anymore Junior goaltender Saxton Soley (Elk Mound, Wis.) made 28 saves to record his fifth tie of the season (7-3-5 record) Jan. 30 against Gustavus. He entered his junior season with one career tie in 44 previous games between the pipes (29-13-1 record). He is currently second in the MIAC in save percentage (.939) and third in GAA (1.87) overall, and is tied for the league’s best winning percentage (.667, 5-2-2 record) in conference play.

SAINT MARY’S | MIAC Member Page | Athletics home page | T.G.I. Fridays With their 3-0 win over St. Olaf last Friday, the Cardinal men’s hockey team improved to 3-0-2 in conference play on Friday nights—and 5-2-2 overall on Fridays. The 3-0 victory over the Oles was also the second straight 3-0 shutout win on a Friday—Saint Mary’s also beat Gustavus 3-0 on Feb. 23. Sweeping away the opposition With their sweep of St. Olaf last weekend, the Cardinal women’s hockey team has now recorded four two-game series sweeps this season—the most since the the 2003-04 season. Along with St. Olaf, the Cardinals have swept Bethel (2-1, 1-0), UW-Eau Claire (4-1, 4-1), and Saint Benedict (3-2, 2-0).

SAINT THOMAS | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Milestones Tommie Men’s Hockey, 8-1 since mid-December, recently became the first current Division III men’s hockey program to reach 1,100 victories. In 92 seasons, St. Thomas has built an 1,101-635-90 won-loss record. Middlebury (Vt.) is second in victories at 1,064. Last weekend, St. Thomas (12-4-3) secured the hockey program’s 33rd consecutive winning season as it split two games against Augsburg. The Tommies share the conference lead with six games to go and are looking to reach the playoffs for the 30th time in the 30-year history of the format. UST ranks second nationally in scoring defense as it has allowed just 29 goals in 19 games. The Toms killed off all 23 opponent power plays in eight January games.

MIAC ATHLETES-OF-THE-WEEK The MIAC Athlete-of-the-Week awards honor the top performances in each conference sport throughout the regular season. The awards are nominated and selected by the MIAC sports information directors. The MIAC will recognize Athletes-of-the-Week in each sport throughout the 2014-15 season. Throughout the winter, basketball and hockey will be announced each Monday with swimming and diving to follow on Tuesday and indoor track and field on Wednesday. | Men’s Hockey | Women’s Hockey |

MIAC WEEKLY Each week, Host Mike Gallagher delivers a new episode of “MIAC Weekly.” The podcast covers all the top news, scores and standings from around the league, and features guest appearances each week from MIAC coaches, student-athletes and administrators. All episodes are archived on the MIAC Weekly home page, and the podcast is also available on iTunes.

MIAC MEDIA MIAC Media is an online initiative devoted to providing additional multimedia coverage of the conference through. The three main MIAC Media features are the MIAC Media Weekly Podcast (more info above), theMIAC Media Blog, and the MIAC Media Video series, which can be found on the MIAC YouTube Channel.

CONNECT TO THE CONFERENCE The MIAC’s new web site – MIACathletics.com – offers several new ways fans can stay connected to the conference. Visit the MIAC scoreboard on game days to follow all the action, and download the MIAC mobile app to have all the information with you anywhere you travel. Also, connect to the conference on its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages for updates and interaction throughout the 2014-15 season. The MIAC also just joined Instagram and will share photos through that new social media site.

The post MIAC Hockey Notebook appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Together or apart, Rochester’s Aney sisters are the Yin to each other’s Yang

Katie and Jessie Aney are very much typical sisters. In some ways they are incredibly similar, but in others they are complete opposites.

What makes them atypical sisters is their skill on the ice. Last season they both scored over 100 points while leading Rochester Century to a season in which it suffered just four losses. They were the yin and the yang of the Panthers. They did it in different ways, but always competing humbly and at an extremely high level.

This season is the first time in years the sisters aren’t playing on the same line or team. Katie is a freshman on Gustavus University’s women’s hockey team where she has six goals and two assists through 19 games of her rookie year.

Jessie, on the other hand, just finished the regular season of her senior year with the Panthers leading the state in assists (52) and points (96) while her 44 goals tied for second.

It’s been a huge adjustment for the siblings who had been nearly inseparable on and off the ice.

Katie Aney (Photo courtesy of Gustavus Adolphus University Athletics / Roisen Granlund)

“We went from playing with each other and being with each other every day to just seeing each other once a month,” Katie said. “She taught me a lot and brought out the best in me as a person and a player so I just try to take what she taught me — hard work and dedication — and I try to carry that with me every day.”

“A lot of times when I get the puck I am looking for her on the back door and I realize she is not there,” Jessie revealed. “It has been fun too; I have been working with different people and it has developed my hockey IQ. I have had to think more and not just always looking for Katie.”

Just as versatile off the ice, they are both multi-sport athletes. They both play tennis and Katie also plays lacrosse. Katie is playing tennis in addition to hockey at Gustavus this year.

“I appreciate both sports more if I have to set one aside,” Katie said. “Then when I get to play it I enjoy it because I haven’t done it for a while. It is nice to have breaks from them. I think I learn a lot from both of them, they help me to continue to grow as an athlete and make me more multi-dimensional.”

Jessie will leave hockey behind after this season having committed to play tennis at North Carolina.

“Our parents always encouraged multiple sports because it is good for athletic development and if you have a bad day or a bad year in one sport you always have the other sport,” Jessie added. “It is a nice break from always hockey, hockey, hockey or tennis, tennis, tennis. I enjoy playing two sports and I didn’t want to give one up in high school.”

She did it for the dough

The hockey duo almost didn’t happen. After her first season of youth hockey younger sister Jessie wasn’t sure she wanted to play anymore. Luckily for Rochester Century there was an added benefit to go with your sister to hockey sign ups.

“She said ‘no, I don’t want to play’,” said older sister Katie, “but there was cookie dough at the sign up. She wanted to come to sign up to get the cookies. So we got there and our dad said ‘okay Jessie, this is your last chance. She said ‘I guess I’ll play’. Ever since then you haven’t been able to stop her.”

“I really like cookie dough,” Jessie quipped. “Cookie dough is pretty much the reason I play hockey.”

Rochester Century coach Dan Maidl discovered Jessie almost by chance when he stopped by the Aney home to borrow a radar gun owned by her father Tom. Tom invited Maidl to the basement shooting range he had built to meet Jessie.

“She was seven or eight years old and I am watching her thirty feet from the net,” Maidl said. “She is calling her shots out — bottom corner, five hole. I believe she was shooting 500 pucks a day. Katie shot pucks then too.”

Tom — who coaches hockey as well — also built a rink on the family’s property.

“He really coached us and motivated us to be better players,” Katie said of her father. “We would talk about hockey all the time.”

Maidl found Katie early too. Katie played on the same teams as her future coach’s daughter. It was easy to see both of the girls’ talent. The development of the sisters mirrored the development of the entire program.

Katie (L) and Jessie Aney. (Photo / Elizabeth Nida Obert – Rochester Post-Bulletin)

A program on the rise

Both the sisters and the Century program took big steps last season. Just a handful of years ago the program that was almost shut down as it struggled to get to .500. Last season, at 22-4, was the programs’ best.

Though the Aneys were a big reason behind the resurgence, they know they couldn’t have done it without the girls that came before them.

Katie recalled attending a Century game with Jessie and a couple other future Panthers teammates in their youth hockey days. The Panthers lost, a common occurrence in those days, but the girls went into the locker room to visit their heroes after the game.

“We thanked them all for playing hockey even, if they hadn’t before, to keep the team running so girls in the future could continue to play hockey for Century,” Katie said.

“Katie and I just really enjoy having the opportunity to help Century have their best seasons,” Jessie added. “Every year we would have our best season which was awesome. We would set program records all the time.”

“It was because of hard work that when they came to our program, they were the leaders right out of the blocks,” Maidl said. “They had the ability and the attitude and the tenacity to never give up.”

In addition to their obvious talent, Maidl says the Aneys play within the team concept.

“They are not selfish hockey players,” the long time hockey coach said. “Last year I can count on both hands the number of goals they scored unassisted.”

The Yin and the Yang

Though they have a mutual love for the game, their approach in the locker room is completely different. Maidl said Jessie is the more serious of the two while Katie is more of a “free spirit” who will joke with teammates and even dance around a bit.

“She is more quietly motivated,” Katie said of her sister. “I am more outwardly. So when I get excited I am more expressive to the team, but when she gets motivated she will just work her butt off.”

“We are pretty different,” Jessie agreed. “Katie is more outgoing and pumps people up. She is more of a leader. I am quiet. I work really hard but I am not going to say anything to anybody.”

But their differences don’t end with game preparation. They each bring their own unique traits to the ice.

“Jessie is like a little jitter bug. She can move the puck through anybody and score,” the coach said. “Katie is taller and has a longer reach. When she moved she looked like she was just gliding. She has great stick and puck control.”

Maidl referred to Katie as a “general on the ice” who knows where her teammates should be and their respective roles.

“Katie’s strengths are her leadership and her hockey IQ,” Maidl said of his former two-time captain. “She made my job as a coach easy.”

He said Jessie’s tenacity and skating ability are what sets her apart, especially when opponents try to slow her down with physical play.

“[Jessie] doesn’t fall down,” Maidl said about his top returning scorer. “She is so strong and she maintains control of the puck or looks for someone to pass to. She can shoot from anywhere and put a hard shot at a specific point.”

“Jessie has always been the hard worker in whatever she does,” said big sister. “She motivated me to be a better player and to work harder on the ice.”

The sum of the parts …

Jessie (#5) and Katie (#13) Aney as teammates last season. (Photo / Scott Jacobson – Rochester Post-Bulletin)

Despite their different games, they meshed perfectly for the Panthers. The years they spent playing together growing up were obvious.

“They talk to each other, but they have their own way of communicating,” Maidl observed over the years. “They tend to know where the other is on the ice — what the other is going to do. Sometimes as coaches we are standing there and we are in awe of what we are seeing. It is fun to watch.”

Not just great athletes, Maidl says they are solid in school and in the community.  The sisters’ devotion to the hockey program doesn’t stop after the season as they both help with the youth program.

“They are well-rounded kids,” Maidl said. “They are both 4.0 students in school. They are just plain old good kids, they are active in church. It is just really neat.”

“They have been great hockey ambassadors — especially in Rochester.”

Not playing together has been, and will be, a challenge, as will competing in different states. Like always, though, it will be the Aney sisters competing humbly at an extremely high level.

“They both have gotten a lot of press and stuff, but they don’t flaunt it,” Maidl said. “They could show off on the ice, but they don’t, they play the game. They are great kids.”

The post The complete package appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

AROUND THE LEAGUE Take a look at this week’s top hockey news items, headlines and interesting facts from the MIAC’s 13 institutions, submitted by each school’s sports information director.

BETHEL | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Larson scores seven points in weekend sweep over St. Olaf In a high-scoring weekend for the Bethel women’s hockey team, sophomore Kathryn Larson was the brightest star. The Royals’ forward had a seven-point weekend with four goals and three assists to help her team put up a total of 14 goals – seven in each game – in a MIAC sweep of St. Olaf. Read more

CONCORDIA | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Smith named candidate for Hockey Humanitarian Award Concordia junior Max Smith was named as one of the 15 candidates for the prestigious BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award. Smith is one of five NCAA Division III candidates in a field that includes men’s and women’s players from Division I and III schools. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Hockey Humanitarian Award is presented annually to college hockey’s finest citizen – a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community-at-large through leadership in volunteerism. Smith is the founder and director of InSports Foundation which offers camps and scholarships for deserving kids to help defray the costs of participating in youth sports. The InSports foundation’s goal is to help 10,000 kids in three years.

SAINT MARY’S | MIAC Member Page | Athletics home page | Seeing plenty of rubber Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) stopped 72 of the 74 shots he faced in the Saint Mary’s men’s hockey team’s MIAC split against Gustavus last weekend. Heinle stopped all 32 shots he faced against Gustavus last Friday for his first collegiate shutout, before adding 43 saves vs. the Gusties a day later. Plenty of nailbiters The Cardinal women’s hockey team’s last four games have all been decided by one goal—2-1 and 1-0 wins over Bethel and 3-2 and 1-0 losses to Gustavus.

SAINT THOMAS | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Surging No. 13-ranked Tommie men’s hockey (11-3-3 overall, 5-1-2) recorded a hard-fought sweep of Hamline, using two empty-net goals for a 4-1 road win last Friday and scoring with 10 seconds left in overtime to win 4-3 at home on Saturday. UST trailed Saturday 3-1 into the final 7:00 when Jordan Lovick and Derek Jacobson scored 24 seconds apart to tie the game. Alex Altenbernd scored a breakaway goal late in overtime to push the Tommies into a share of the conference lead. UST has won seven in a row and is 8-0-1 since Thanksgiving. The Toms have killed off all 15 opponent power plays during its 6-0 run through January.

MIAC ATHLETES-OF-THE-WEEK The MIAC Athlete-of-the-Week awards honor the top performances in each conference sport throughout the regular season. The awards are nominated and selected by the MIAC sports information directors. The MIAC will recognize Athletes-of-the-Week in each sport throughout the 2014-15 season. Throughout the winter, basketball and hockey will be announced each Monday with swimming and diving to follow on Tuesday and indoor track and field on Wednesday. | Men’s Hockey | Women’s Hockey |

MIAC WEEKLY Each week, Host Mike Gallagher delivers a new episode of “MIAC Weekly.” The podcast covers all the top news, scores and standings from around the league, and features guest appearances each week from MIAC coaches, student-athletes and administrators. All episodes are archived on the MIAC Weekly home page, and the podcast is also available on iTunes.

Episode 87 – 1.22.15

MIAC Weekly Host Mike Gallagher talks women’s hockey with Saint Mary’s Head Coach Terry Mannor, and Gustavus Head Men’s Tennis Coach Tommy Valentini joins the show to discussing the passing of Gustavus and MIAC tennis coaching legend Steve Wilkinson.

MIAC MEDIA MIAC Media is an online initiative devoted to providing additional multimedia coverage of the conference through. The three main MIAC Media features are the MIAC Media Weekly Podcast (more info above), theMIAC Media Blog, and the MIAC Media Video series, which can be found on the MIAC YouTube Channel.

CONNECT TO THE CONFERENCE The MIAC’s new web site – MIACathletics.com – offers several new ways fans can stay connected to the conference. Visit the MIAC scoreboard on game days to follow all the action, and download the MIAC mobile app to have all the information with you anywhere you travel. Also, connect to the conference on its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages for updates and interaction throughout the 2014-15 season. The MIAC also just joined Instagram and will share photos through that new social media site.

The post MIAC Hockey Notebook appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

A hockey-centric version of the MIAC Weekly Notebook

BETHEL | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Bethel alum leads U-18 Women’s Hockey team to gold Back in mid-June USA Hockey announced that Bethel University alum Joel Johnson was named the head coach for the 2015 U.S. Women’s National U-18 Team. Just under seven months later Johnson and those competing on the squad made international headlines by defeating rival Canada in the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women’s World Championship at HARBORCENTER in Buffalo, N.Y. Read more

CONCORDIA | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | A shutout, a sweep, and a lead in the MIAC A pair of goals in each of the second and third periods led to a 4-0 win for Concordia over No.14-ranked St. John’s and the first sweep of the Johnnies since 2000. The Cobbers received goals from three freshmen and a senior in their ninth overall win of the season. First-year players Dalton Mills,Jon Grebosky and Zach Doerring all continued their outstanding play in their first collegiate seasons while Andrew Deters showed why he is the team’s leading scorer. The win is the third straight for the Cobbers. CC is now 9-5-3 on the year which is the most overall wins for any conference team. The win also moves the Cobbers into first place in the league standings. Concordia is 4-2-2 in the MIAC and has 15 league points.

GUSTAVUS | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Gusties capture Golden Shovel A team made up of former Gustavus Adolphus College women’s hockey players captured the coveted Golden Shovel in the Women’s Division of the 2015 Labatt Blue U.S. Pond Hockey Championships held Jan. 15-18 on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. The team “Consistently Cuatro” made up of Gusties Sara Yungner ’11, Mollie Carroll ’12, Gina DeNucci ’12, Grace Olson ’12, Allie Schwab ’12, Jenna Christensen ’13, Kelsey Kennedy ’13, and Meagan Wanecke ’13 earned earn a berth in the Women’s Division Championship after recording 12 points in pool play with an unblemished record of 4-0-0. On the Mountain Khakis rink Sunday afternoon, Consistently Cuatro faced off against Shenanigans – a team that also entered the championship game with a record of 4-0-0 following pool play. With clear skies over Lake Nokomis and temperatures dancing around an ideal 35 degrees, the flannel-clad Gusties skated to an 11-7 victory to claim the Golden Shovel on what was the tenth anniversary of the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships.

HAMLINE | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Men’s hockey remains undefeated in MIAC play Thanks to some yeoman work by goalie John Sellie-Hanson, the HU men’s pucksters remained the lone team to be unbeaten in MIAC play. Hamline improved to 3-0-3 and a tie for second place (7-4-4 overall) after a 4-2, 3-0 sweep of St. Olaf. Sellie-Hanson stopped 33 the first night. That’s a nice number but it paled in comparison to the next night when he swept aside 44 for the shutout. It is believed to be the most saves ever for a HU goalie in a shutout effort. The three MIAC wins is one more than Hamline had the past two seasons. Verleye leads women’s hockey to three-point weekend It was a weekend that Hamline senior forward Jordan Verleye… and St. Olaf … may not forget for a long while. In the opener of the two-game series, the senior’s breakaway goal in OT lifted the Pipers to a 3-2 win, their first MIAC victory of the season. The next night, Verleye had two goals and two assists in a 4-4 OT tie. In the process, she moved into eight place all-time in school history with 59 points.

SAINT CATHERINE | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Wildcats tie defending MIAC Champs After St. Thomas snapped a five-game losing streak by beating St. Kate’s 4-0 Friday, the Wildcat hockey team rebounded by again flexing its power play muscles with a goal from Karly Nelson in the first period. The Tommies scored with 0.2 seconds remaining in the opening period to force at 1-1 tie. Abbi White had a career-best 35 saves in goal for the Wildcats.

SAINT JOHN’S | MIAC Member Page | Athletics home page | Young line fuels SJU to win Down five starters due to injury for a non-conference, weeknight game against Wisconsin-Stout, SJU head coach Doug Schueller turned to a number of underclassmen to step up, and step up they did in a 4-2 win. The Johnnies’ fourth line consisting of sophomores Ross Stecklein (Roseville, Minn.) and Dan Voce (Princeton, Minn.), and freshman Sam Valerius (Maple Grove, Minn.), entered the game with a combined one point in 12 varsity games, but was responsible for the team’s first goal and the game-winning tally. All three are high-school recruits that did not play junior hockey prior to enrolling at SJU.

SAINT MARY’S | MIAC Member Page | Athletics home page | There’s hot, and then there’s Gruse-hot Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored a career-high four goals in the Cardinal men’s hockey team’s sweep-clinching 5-2 win over Bethel last Saturday. Gruse’s four-goal effort was the Cardinals’ more since Mike Glaesmer netted four against Hamline on Dec. 6, 2008. With his five points vs. the Royals, Gruse—the conference’s leading scorer—has now recorded 14 points (9 goals, 5 assists) in his last six contests. Home sweet home With their 1-0 win over Bethel at the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena last Saturday, the Cardinal women’s hockey team improved to 4-0-1 in their last five home games against the Royals—with all five games being decided by one goal or less.

SAINT THOMAS | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Hot streak Over the last eight weeks, St. Thomas is a combined 27-0-1 in the sports of men’s basketball (10-0), women’s basketball (11-0) and men’s hockey (6-0-1), including five victories over nationally-ranked teams during that span. That includes a 15-0 record in January. The Tommies are ranked nationally in all three sports at No. 3 (men’s hoops), No. 4 (women’s hoops) and No. 12 (men’s hockey). St. Paul-Paloooza It will be a lively weekend in St. Paul. Saturday alone there’s the Winter Carnival parade, Crashed Ice competition, Garrison Keillor radio show, a Sam Smith concert, and even the Saintly City Cat Show. The MIAC will contribute to the fun as Tommie-Johnnie basketball tips off at 3 p.m. Saturday at Schoenecker Arena; Hamline and UST have interesting men’s and women’s hockey games Friday and Saturday nights (St. Paul’s Oscar Johnson Arena, suburban Mendota Heights).

LEGENDARY GUSTAVUS MEN’S TENNIS COACH STEVE WILKINSON DIES Steve Wilkinson, longtime men’s tennis coach at Gustavus Adolphus College and founder of Tennis and Life Camps, passed away on Wednesday, January 21 at the age of 73 after courageously living with cancer for nearly seven years. Wilkinson spent 39 years (1971-2009) at the helm of the Gustavus men’s tennis program. His teams compiled 929 wins overall, the most victories in the history of collegiate men’s tennis. Wilkinson’s squads won two NCAA Division III titles (1980 and 1982) as well as 35 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) titles. His teams compiled an overall record of 929-278 (.769) and an MIAC mark of 334-1 (.997). In addition, his players claimed six national doubles titles, and four national singles titles. He coached 46 players to 87 ITA All-America honors, 103 players to 226 All-Conference honors, and five CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. He was named NAIA National Coach of the Year twice (1974 and 1984) and Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III Coach of the Year three times (1982, 2001, and 2003). Full Story

MIAC HONORS RECORD NUMBER OF FALL ACADEMIC-ALL CONFERENCE SELECTIONS Two of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s (MIAC) four core values are Quality Athletics and Academics and, Thursday, the conference celebrated those tenets with the announcement of the 2014 Fall Academic All-Conference team. Despite two sports moving their honor from fall to spring, the MIAC still recognized the most Fall Academic All-Conference honorees in conference history. This fall, a total of 356 student-athletes earned the prestigious honor, which recognizes combined excellence in academics and athletics. The previous record of 334 was established just one year ago (2013) and included men’s and women’s golf selections. This year, MIAC administrators voted to alter golf’s athletic requirement and move the honor to the spring, so the MIAC racked up 22 more Fall Academic All-Conference honorees despite two fewer sports included this time around. | Full Story & Academic All-Conference List |Academic All-Conference Archive |

MIAC ATHLETES-OF-THE-WEEK The MIAC Athlete-of-the-Week awards honor the top performances in each conference sport throughout the regular season. The awards are nominated and selected by the MIAC sports information directors. The MIAC will recognize Athletes-of-the-Week in each sport throughout the 2014-15 season. Throughout the winter, basketball and hockey will be announced each Monday with swimming and diving to follow on Tuesday and indoor track and field on Wednesday. | Men’s Hockey | Women’s Hockey |

MIAC WEEKLY Each week, Host Mike Gallagher delivers a new episode of “MIAC Weekly.” The podcast covers all the top news, scores and standings from around the league, and features guest appearances each week from MIAC coaches, student-athletes and administrators. All episodes are archived on the MIAC Weekly home page, and the podcast is also available on iTunes.

Episode 86 – 1.15.15

The latest edition of the MIAC Weekly podcast takes to the ice, as Host Mike Gallagher welcomes first-year Hamline Head Men’s Hockey Coach Cory Laylin to talk about his team’s big improvement. Mike also takes his usual look at the top stories throughout the conference.

MIAC MEDIA MIAC Media is an online initiative devoted to providing additional multimedia coverage of the conference through. The three main MIAC Media features are the MIAC Media Weekly Podcast (more info above), theMIAC Media Blog, and the MIAC Media Video series, which can be found on the MIAC YouTube Channel.

CONNECT TO THE CONFERENCE The MIAC’s new web site – MIACathletics.com – offers several new ways fans can stay connected to the conference. Visit the MIAC scoreboard on game days to follow all the action, and download the MIAC mobile app to have all the information with you anywhere you travel. Also, connect to the conference on its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages for updates and interaction throughout the 2014-15 season. The MIAC also just joined Instagram and will share photos through that new social media site.

The post MIAC Hockey Notebook appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Dropped Out: Amherst

Others receiving votes: Adrian 11, Amherst 4, Trinity 3, St. Scholastica 2, Lake Forest 2

The D3hockey.com Top 10 is voted on by a panel of 15 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.

The post Division III Women’s Poll – Nov. 11, 2013 appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

November 4, 2013

Dropped Out: Adrian

Others receiving votes: Trinity 4, UW-Superior
4, Oswego State 3, Adrian 1, Lake Forest 1, Utica 1

The D3hockey.com Top 10 is voted on by a panel of 15 coaches,
Sports Information Directors and media members from across the
country, and is published weekly.

The D3hockey.com Top 10 is voted on by a panel of 15 coaches,
Sports Information Directors and media members from across the
country, and is published weekly.

The post Division III Women’s Poll – Nov. 4, 2013 appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.