Women's Hockey 26-Game Notes--March 5

March 04, 2008

--UP NEXT: The second-seed Tommies (21-5) will face No. 3-ranked Gustavus (24-2) in the MIAC playoff finals for the sixth year in a row. The game will be hosted by the top-seed Gusties in St. Peter and starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The winner gets the MIAC's automatic berth into the NCAA playoffs.

The Gusties have won the last four conference playoff title games, all by one goal, two in overtime.

UST advanced with Saturday's 4-2 win over Concordia on a day when five of the game's six goals were scored over the last 8:00... Gustavus has won nine consecuive MIAC playoff games over five seasons. The Gusties shut out Hamline 5-0 on Saturday.

--WEBCAST: Wednesday's game will be videocast live by Gustavus and can be accessed here:

http://gustavus.edu/athletics/audio.cfm

--LAST TIME: The Tommies fell out of the USCHO top-10 national poll after losing twice to No. 4-rated Gustavus, 1-0 and 4-2, on Jan. 25-26. The first game was scoreless through 55 minutes, and the second was a one-goal game into the last minute. It was the first time UST was swept in an MIAC women's hockey series in five seasons.

--GUSTIE RIVALRY: Over the last five seasons, Gustavus is 9-4-1 vs. St. Thomas and 85-0 against other MIAC teams. Ten of the last 17 Tommie-Gustie meetings have been decided by one-goal or ended in a tie. The Toms reached the conference playoff finals in each of the last five years with one title and four seconds -- all one-goal losses to Gustavus (two in overtime)... Last year the Toms went 1-2 vs. Gustavus but their 1-0 regular-season win in St. Peter halted three long Gustavus streaks -- a 17-game win streak on the season, a 33-game MIAC unbeaten streak, and a 34-game home ice unbeaten streak. The Toms also ended Gustavus' bid to become the first conference hockey team to finish 18-0, a feat Gustie accomplsihed this season. It also marked the first MIAC shutout loss for the Gusties since Dec. 2002, covering 81 games. UST later lost 3-2 at Gustavus in the conference playoff finals last March. The Gusties' previous last defeat to a conference foe came here to the Tommies in Feb. 2005, 2-1. They were 33-0-1 since then, with a home tie to the Toms in 2005-06.

--DID YOU KNOW?: Tommie senior Ashley Reinhardt is tied for fifth nationally with 39 points and is second in assists... UST has held teams to two or less goals in 21 of 26 games. In nine MIAC road games this year, UST has allowed six goals (one empty net). The Tommies have won 19 or more games in five of the last six seasons... Gustavus is averaging 4.50 gpg and UST is at 3.92.

--SENIORS: Three Tommie seniors played their last regular-season home games in late February -- defenseman Natalie Casas and forwards Ashley Reinhardt and Courtney Sekevitch. That trio has helped the Tommies post a 78-26-3 record in their era. In 106 career games, Reinhardt, a Finance major with a 3.45 gpa, has 50 goals and 63 assists for 113 points; Sekevitch, a psychology and English major with a 3.30 gpa, played her first semester at Colgate and has played 85 games at UST with 24 goals and 31 assists; Casas, an International Business/Spanish major, has played in 83 games and has 14 assists.

--HONORS: Goalie Lauren Bradel was named MIAC Player of the Week Feb. 18 after she stopped 41 of 42 shots to lead the Tommies to a 4-1, 5-0 sweep of St. Mary's that secured UST's eighth consecutive MIAC playoff trip. She now has six shutouts on the season. Bradel had a streak of 53 consecutive power-play kills end Feb. 23. Bradel is now 17-4 on the season and ranks in the top eight nationally in both save percentage (.943) and GAA (1.33).   

--100-POINT CLUB: Junior Jackie Carroll has 103 career points in 80 career games and recently become the fifth St. Thomas women's player to reach 100. Her 24 assists rank fifth in Division III.

--POWER-PLAY POWER: UST leads all college hockey teams (men or women) as it has killed off 94.8% (128-of-135) of power plays. They had a consecutive kill streak end at 45 Feb. 9 with second-period power-play goal scored by Hamline.

--ACTIVE ATHLETE: Senior Courtney Sekevitch of Mendota Heights was one of 22 collegiate players named as semifinalists for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. Sekevitch has 54 points in 82 games on her UST career. She's been active on campus in Undergraduate Student Government and on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She's also been an active participant in UST's Tutor-Mentor program as a volunteer at St. Matthew's School in St. Paul. She's also been a weekly volunteer the last two years at the Woodbury YMCA as a Special Olympics floor hockey coach.

--HOME SWEET HOME: In their first five seasons on home ice at Saint Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, the Tommie women are 48-11-2. They had an eight-game home win streak halted Jan. 26 with a 4-2 loss to Gustavus. 

--COACH TOM PALKOWSKI: Kevin Gorg, the only head coach in the nine-year history of the varsity program, resigned last summer. But interim coach Tom Palkowski was Gorg's assistant all nine years, and the transition has been smooth... Palkowski, a former Tommie men's hockey star, has 20 years experience as a hockey assistant coach. The Columbia Heights native previously served 11 seasons in the boys' high-school programs at Columbia Heights, Totino-Grace and Mounds View... as a player, Palkowski spent one season at Division I Illinois-Chicago, then competed in his final three seasons at St. Thomas. He helped the Toms post a 50-13-1 record in his first two seasons with a pair of MIAC championships and two NCAA playoff berths. Despite playing just 93 games in three seasons, he still ranks seventh on the UST career scoring list with 168 points (71 goals, 97 assists). (Five of the six players listed ahead of Palkowski played four seasons).

--ODDS & ENDS: Over the last six years, St. Thomas has become a consistent top-10 to top-15 nationally-ranked team. The Toms' 96-18-5 record in MIAC play in that span includes 13 one-goal losses... On Jan. 21, UST cracked the USCHO top-10 national poll for the first time this season. They were ranked No. 10 after a 3-0 week from Jan. 16-19, which included a 4-3 overtime win at then No. 10-ranked UW-River Falls... The Toms also rank in the top 12 in Divison III in scoring, fewest goals allowed, and scoring margin.