2000 Men's Soccer season wrap-up

December 13, 2000
After a 5-2 start to the season, injuries took their toll on a young St. Thomas men's soccer team in 2000.

Starting goalie Will Loepfe (SO-Milwaukee, Wis./Marquette) missed six games; 1999 leading scorer Ryan Dolan (JR-/Golden Valley/ Benilde-St. Margaret) missed the final half of the season; and standout Jason English (SR-Burnsville) was sidelined after scoring 10 points in early games.

St. Thomas battled through the setbacks and finished 10-8 overall and 4-6 in the MIAC. The Toms' 37 goals nearly doubled the 1999 total of 20.

The Toms had five shutout wins and played MIAC champion Gustavus tough in a 2-1 defeat. They also lost one-goal decisions to St. John's, St. Mary's and Concordia-Moorhead.

Coach Denzil Lue surpassed 200 career wins and now is 208-123-43 in 22 seasons. UST also surpassed 300 all-time wins in 33 seasons and now has an all-time record of 307-140-56.

The Toms have had only three losing seasons in the last 30 seasons.

MF Kor Xiong (SR-Mpls./Edison) capped an excellent four-year career as he earned first-team All-MIAC honors.

Two other Toms were named honorable mention All-MIAC -- Matt Raplinger (FR-Kansas City, Mo./Bishop Miege) and John Matejcek (SO-Mankato/ Loyola). Raplinger finished third on the team in scoring with 10 points (four goals, two assists), while Matejcek scored one goal.

In MIAC games, Peter Lefebrve (JR-St. Michael/St. Michael-Albertville) finished seventh in MIAC scoring with 12 points (five goals, two assists) in 10 conference games. In overall 18-game statistics, Lefebrve also led the Toms in scoring with 20 points (eight goals, four assists).

Xiong, English and Michael Percic (SR-Brooklyn Park/Park Center) were the lone seniors for the Tommies.

The following team awards were announced at the Dec. 6 banquet:

Varsity
.Lefebrve was named Best Offensive Player
.Raplinger was chosen Best Defensive Player;
.Nick Wendland (SO-Chanhassen/Minnehaha Academy) was named Most Improved Player
.English was named Most Valuable Player;
.Xiong and Percic were co-recipients of the Coach Flood Award for leadership and teamwork.
.4 upperclass players were honored for making the 2000 MIAC Fall Academic Honor Role with grade-point averages of 3.35 or higher (freshmen not eligible): Lefebvre (3.56 in QMCS & Economics); Matejcek (3.88 Business); Chad Nelson (SO-Madison, Wis./Memorial) (3.77 in Biology); and Percic (3.56 in Economics & Finance)

Junior-Varsity Awards
.Sean Marshall (SO-Oakdale/Tartan) was named Most Improved Player
.Tom Hart (FR-South St. Paul) was named Offensive Player of the Year
.Adam Rymer (FR-Cedarburg, Wis.) was named Defensive Player of the Year;
.Paul Ashenfelter (FR-Mound/Mound-Westonka) was named Best "Team Player"
.Wendland was named Most Valuable Player
.Nate Sacho (SO-Fredonia, Wis./Ozaukee) was named Most Coachable Player

2000 UST Scoring Leaders
Name G A Pt.
5-Peter Lefebvre 8 4 20
19-Luis Cunha 5 1 11
17-Matt Raplinger 4 2 10
16-Jason English 3 4 10
23-Guill. Quintero 2 5 9
11-Chad Nelson 2 3 7
13-Charles Ripley 2 2 6
2-Dan Blaisdell 0 5 5
18-Rocky Friede 1 3 5
7-Ryan Dolan 2 1 5
3-Mike Tamasi 2 1 5
14-Joe Pogge 1 2 4
16-Tom Hart 1 2 4
9-Greg Geiger 1 1 3
22-John Matejcek 1 0 2
8 -Nate Sacho 0 1 1
20-Kor Xiong 0 1 1
(Team) 1 0 2
St. Thomas Totals 37 40 114
St. Thomas Foes 31

G'keepers Min--GA--GAA--W-L
Will Loepfe 1010--12--1.07-6-4
Justin Hockemeyer 365--9--2.22-3-2
Chris Swanson 270--10--3.33-1-2