Men's Soccer wins sportsmanship award, has 3 All-MIAC

November 14, 2002
First-year head coach Aaron Macke and his St. Thomas men's soccer team received the MIAC Sportsmanship Award for best on-field and bench decorum for the 2002 season.

The Tommies tied for third place in the conference standings with St. John's at 6-2-2. They went 5-0-1 in thier last six games to finish 10-4-3.

Defender Matt Raplinger (JR-Kansas City, Mo./Bishop Miege) made the 20-player All-MIAC team for the second year in a row. He also was HM All-MIAC as a freshman. Raplinger was joined by goalkeeper Will Loepfe (SR-Oconomowoc, Wis./Milwaukee Marquette) and defender Kyle Hale (JR-Shorewood/Minnetonka). Named honorable mention All-MIAC for the second year in a row was midfielder Mike Heitzman (SO-Ames, Iowa).

All four played a large role in the Tommies posting nine shutouts and allowing just 11 goals in 17 games. The previous four St. Thomas teams averaged 26.5 goals allowed per season.

Raplinger scored five goals on the season and now has 29 points (13 goals, three assists) on his career. Loepfe, an HM All-MIAC honoree in 2001, went 9-4-3 in goal with an 0.74 GAA and finished his career with 19 shutouts and a 24-13-3 record in goal. His nine shutouts in 2002 tied a school record.