Points & Prattle: The Return (Feb. 4, 2011)

Settling in to a new semester and working extensively in the office these last few months of my collegiate career, I figured it might be time to get back in the saddle here on the Voice of the Saints. Fall 2010 was such a hectic semester for me; the site sort of got left in the dust, but I’m back and ready to make up for lost time, starting with the first Points & Prattle of the new year. I’ll try to roll out some more original content as it comes to me, but for now, this will suffice. On to the points:

• This winter hasn’t been the easiest of seasons for a St. Scholastica sports fan, but there’s plenty of time left for our basketball and hockey teams to make up ground in the UMAC and NCHA, respectively.
• At the same time, there’s plenty of success and excitement when it comes to the Saints Nordic ski and Track & Field teams lately. So, we can take solace in that.
• Men’s hockey will be in action on the road this week. They’re in the cellar of the NCHA right now, but can make a move by defeating Wis.-Stevens Point and St. Norbert this weekend. The Saints had a rough time with the Pointers in the opening weekend, but revenge will be on their minds Friday night. As for St. Norbert, CSS split a weekend series with the Knights earlier this year, so winning the season series is a distinct possibility. (Preview now available)
  
• The problem for men’s hockey this season, from a fan’s point of view, is certainly consistency. Friday night, the Saints put on one of their most impressive showings of the season in defeating Wis.-Stout, and then came back Saturday night and fell in a close game to a beatable Wis.-River Falls team. Consistency will be key as the Saints look to improve playoff positioning down the stretch.
• On the same note, the Saints women’s hockey team is on the outside looking in at the NCHA O’Brien Cup tournament bracket with just a few weeks to go, sitting just two points out of eighth place. After a much deserved bye week to close out January, the Saints take on the sixth-ranked Wis.-Stevens Point Pointers at home this weekend. To say these are must-win games would be an understatement, but CSS will continue to take on the teams just ahead of them in the standings as they travel to St. Norbert and host Wis.-Eau Claire in the weeks to come.
• Yours truly will continue to be the voice of Saints women’s hockey this weekend, available on the iFan Sports Network as well as on demand at csssaints.com. Here’s the proper links: Live, On-Demand.
• The Saints men’s basketball team seems to be heating up at the right time as winners of five of their past seven against conference opponents, including a home win on Tuesday against Northland. CSS is now fourth in the UMAC which sets them up for hosting a playoff game, but if I know Coach Staniger’s squad, they’re looking for more than that.
• CSS takes on Northwestern and Crown this weekend, a pair of teams they split with earlier in the season (defeating Crown 83-67 while falling at Northwestern 64-79). It’s worth noting that 83 point vs. Crown is currently a season-high scoring output for the Saints.
• On the women’s side, the Saints have won three of their last five, including a 66-56 defeat of the LumberJills on Tuesday night. CSS is sitting fifth in the UMAC currently, and continuing their current path should land them a playoff spot, but CSS will look to improve on their 4-4 record in their second trip through the conference schedule.
• Of course, CSS will also take on Northwestern and Crown like their male counterparts. Just like the men, the Saints women split against the Storm (W 75-39) and the Eagles (L 54-69) and put out their season-high scoring output against Crown.
• I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about Nordic skiing, but I do know how to read (thankfully). So, I know that Jeremy Hecker and Waylon Manske impressed for CSS over the weekend on the men’s side, while Julia Curry led the way on the women’s side. Keep up the good work, Saints!
• Heading back indoors, CSS track & field athletes keep finding themselves on the list of weekly UMAC honors, this week led by Cyrus Beckwith and Alec Seeley. School records fell on Friday as Beckwith broke his own pole vault record and Justin Hanson finished second in the 55-meter hurdles.
• On the women’s side, Maggie Bair matched Hanson’s feat of breaking the 55-meter hurdle record. Seeley earned her UMAC honors in winning the weight throw event on the evening.
• The Track teams will both be traveling across the bridge this week to compete in Superior at the Border Battle. Preview Now Available!
  
• I spend an obscene amount of time on Twitter and surfing the internet (never at work, of course), here’s some of the winning highlights of the past few weeks:
• Did Peter, Bjorn and John (http://tinyurl.com/48jdd5a) rip off the Muppets (http://tinyurl.com/25dt246)? I say yes.
• A “comprehensive, totally understandable explanation of what’s happening in Egypt:” http://bit.ly/eJla66 Mind you: this is a tad bit outdated now, but if you’re less in the know than me, it might help you catch up.
• And finally: is Facebook making us sad? http://www.slate.com/id/2282620 -- a very interesting read for the Facebook-obsessed.

That’s all for now, folks. I hope you enjoyed the return of P&P for the week. We’ll be back next week to take another look at the playoff picture for the Saints as well as (hopefully) some more intriguing non-CSS related fun. Thanks for reading!

EDIT: 2/4/11, 11:23 AM Added preview links for men's hockey and track & field.

SUMMER SESSIONS w/Men's Basketball Coach David Staniger

Summer Sessions Episode #5
w/Saints Head Men's Basketball Coach David Staniger

Summer Sessions continues on into the winter sports with Coach Staniger. This is a very entertaining view -- short and sweet, but fun. We'll be back later this week with another edition, but for now, enjoy:

Thanks for watching!

-jh

Points and Prattle XVII

Sportsfans!

What an exciting week it has been for CSS athletics. Starting last weekend with the epic NCHA Quarterfinal series to last night’s UMAC Semifinal upset. And the excitement doesn’t end here. There’s plenty more to go around this weekend. It’s a jam-packed Points and Prattle, so let’s get straight into it!

• Let’s start at the end of the week as CSS men’s basketball shocked the world (or at the very least, the Upper Midwest) in their upset last night of UMAC Regular Season Champ Northwestern in the semifinal round. This came off the heels of another upset of sorts on Tuesday, when they defeated fourth-ranked Presentation in the opening round.
• Junior Danny Schmitz led the Saints with 26 points last night, while senior Max Dibrell added 19 of his own as the Saints defeated the top-seeded Eagles 75-71. (Full Story)
• In a year that started with a lot of question marks, it’s even more exciting to see the Saints travel to Morris this Saturday to take on the Cougars for the conference Tournament Championship. I’ll be rooting them on from afar, having to work in town.
• Speaking of conference championships, the UMAC Indoor Track & Field championship will take place this weekend, right here in Duluth at the BWC! It’s your last chance to cheer on the Saints at home, and more importantly, it’s your last chance to do it without the elements coming in to play, so be sure to stop in tomorrow, starting at Noon. (Full Story)
• Only one other team is in action in Duluth this week, and that’s men’s hockey, taking on River Falls in the NCHA semis.. I’ve already spilled some ink (is that term even used anymore?) on the subject, so I’ll spare us all the trouble and direct you to the web site for all the info. (Full Story)
• I honestly feel like any of the four teams could be competing in the finals next week, but I know what I’m rooting for. (Hint: it involves hockey in Duluth next Friday).
• One of our winter teams has finished their season, and that is the women’s basketball team. They had a very exciting season, and their Tuesday night loss to Presentation is nothing to hang their heads about. Not surprisingly, senior Kirsten Haukom led the Saints with 19 points. She’ll finish her career with 1,086 points, 518 rebounds, 242 assists, and 187 steals. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. (Full Story)
• It’s always best to focus on the good of a season, and there was plenty of that for the Saints women, who finished third in the conference. Still, there’s no shame in losing your final game of the season against a team that also upset the top-ranked team in the conference last night. Congrats to the lady Saints on an exciting season, and I look forward to seeing what the young team can accomplish next season as well.
• The UMAC Coaches' Polls for baseball and softball came out this week, and the Saints were picked to repeat in softball. It’s hard to argue with the success the Saints had last season, and they’ll be returning much of the squad from 2009 for this season. It wasn’t a clean sweep, but seven out of eight votes ain’t bad. (Full Story)
• Meanwhile, Saints baseball was chosen to finish second for the first time in over a decade. My Twerps already may have a feeling how I feel about the voting, but I’ll wait to see how the season plays out before passing judgment. As of now, I have a hard time betting against the defending champs. (Full Story)
• It’s been a rough first couple of weeks for the Saints tennis teams, but they’re back on the court this weekend with a chance to rebound. The men are at St. Cloud State for a tournament on Saturday while the women will take on St. Kate’s in St. Paul.
• Last, but not least, I need to send a little love the way of the women’s cross country team. CSS senior Katelyn Meger has been named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year. (Full Story)
• This is completely unrelated to anything, but I’m always intrigued by news directly connected to social media. Choose your words wisely, AKA emotions and emails don’t mix.

What have we learned today? It’s a great time to be a Saint, an even better time to be a fan of the Saints, and a pretty terrible time to be a movie theater VP. So, that’s all for this week, but there’s more to come next week. So, stay tuned!

Take it easy,

-jh

Hello sportsfans,

If you are a sports fan like myself, this past week has been flooded with coverage on scandals and controversy, and while I’d like to say the VOTS will be free of that… I have to report a robbery before I get to Points and Prattle, that’s right, CSS men’s hockey senior Jordan Chong had something stolen from him this morning, and that is the NCHA Player of the Year Award. Of course, that’s just one man’s opinion, and I may be a little biased, but… the stats speak for themselves.

• On a lighter note, the Saints still led the way in conference awards today, as Chong, Dustin DeGagne (Sr.-Winnipeg, Man.), and Zach Kleiman (Sr.-Ottawa, Ont.) were all named to the NCHA First Team. Honorable Mentions include Jordan Baird (Sr.-Port McNeill, B.C.), Austin Brown (So.-Lathrup Village, Mich.), and Jeremy Dawes (So.-Winnipeg, Man.).Congrats to all the Saints who were honored!
• A lot of ink has been spilled about the Saints’ duel with the UWS Yellowjackets this weekend, so I’ll leave it at that and point you in the direction of csssaints.com for previews.
• Coincidentally, my job has also been done for me in previewing men’s and women’s basketball this weekend. They’ll close out the regular season on the road, and you can find out more about it here (men) and here (women).
• Track and field had an indoor meet last night, up in the lovely city of Bemidji, which means they travelled through that state park that goes on forever, but that’s rather irrelevant. While the event consisted mostly of Div.-II schools, the CSS women still won three events, including a top-8 sweep in the 400-meter dash. Now, that’s cool.
• The Saints will return to the track and/or field in eight days at the UMAC Indoor Championship, so they have plenty of time to rest up and prepare.
• One last track note, and that is a congratulations to freshman Jackie Thelen (Randall, Minn.), who was named UMAC Athlete of the Week for track last week for breaking three school records. Not bad.
• Softball opened their season this past week with a split of a doubleheader against Wis.-Stout. We saw some impressive performances, but thanks to rather strange scheduling they won’t return to the field for about a month. Nonetheless, they know what they need to work on before their Spring trip to Tucson, Ariz. Highlights included a complete game by Jenn Falk (Jr.-Altona, Minn.) and a two-run homer by Kristin Swartz (Sr.-Hermantown, Minn.).
• It’s been warmer the past few days in Duluth, which reminds me that we’re nearing baseball season: 11 days before the ’Dome opener.

I think that’s it for this week. I swear we’ll get back on track soon with 5 Questions. We’ll have to preview spring sports soon, so stay tuned for that. I hope to see you all at hockey this weekend, and as always, keep current at CSSsaints.com.

Take it easy,
-jh

Points and Prattle, Vol. XV

Good afternoon, sportsfans!

It’s a lovely, sunny day in Duluth – perfect for blogging. So, let’s get into the Points & Prattle.

• There’s a tie atop the NCHA this morning, after the Saints downed conference rival Superior last night to find themselves in a virtual tie at 26 points with St. Norbert College. The issue, being, of course that the Saints need more points than Norbert to claim the championship due to tiebreakers falling in favor of the Green Knights.
• Therefore, the scenario is pretty simple for the Saints: CSS MUST win tonight against Eau Claire if they want any chance of capturing the NCHA Regular Season title, and from there, they need help: Norbert can not escape the weekend with more than one point (two losses or a loss and a tie), so it’s time to hop on the bandwagon (for one weekend) of Wis.-Stout and Wis.-River Falls.
• Why should I preview basketball when it’s already been done? Chris Doran has the scoop on our men’s and women’s teams heading into their final home games of the regular season.
• I will mention this programming note, which is that the womens’ game tonight will air on My9, locally, and (as always) on the iFan Sports Network.
• Three Saints earned UMAC Athlete of the Week honors this past week for their part in an impressive showing by their teams: Tennis’ Katie Motley (Sr). went 2-0 in both singles and doubles matches this weekend as the Saints downed St. Thomas and Hamline. On the men’s side, Jacob Engelstad (So.) was honored after winning both of his singles matches, including being the only CSS men’s player to get a victory against St. Thomas Saturday. Looking forward, the teams do not return to the courts until next Saturday, so we’ll wait on that.
• Last, but not least, track and field freshman Justin Hanson earned his third UMAC Athlete of the Week honor after breaking three school records at Saturday’s Border Battle at UWS.
• 2009 Player of the Year Kristin Swartz (Sr.) and the defending UMAC Champion Saints softball team are scheduled to start their season next Tuesday in Rosmount, Minn., taking on Wis.-Stout under the dome.
• Saints Baseball is still 18 days away, but that sunshine I spoke of earlier is giving me spring fever. So close, so far away.
• I think that’s all we’ve got! It’s been a relatively quiet week around here, but with Spring sports on the horizon, things are about to pick up.

So, enjoy the weather, enjoy the games. Take care of yourselves, and each other.

And a happy Valentine’s Day on Sunday,
-jh

Points and Prattle, Vol. 14

Good afternoon, sportsfans!

In honor of tonight’s WhiteOut, today’s Points & Prattle will be delivered exclusively in white text.

If you actually highlighted this to read it, you get one gold star.

... Just kidding.

• The No.-4 Saints return to their home ice tonight after two weeks on the road, and St. Scholastica’s Connectica is sponsoring a Whiteout which includes free t-shirts. Supposedly, it’s the college’s social media headquarters on the web, but I noticed one site in particular missing from their archives. I’m just saying.
• The important of tonight’s game stretches beyond free t-shirts (shocking, I know), because the Saints opponent is St. Norbert – the team immediately ahead of them in the USCHO poll (No. 3) and in the NCHA standings. With three points separating the two teams with four games to go in the regular season schedule, the Saints could clinch the tiebreaker and climb within one-point of their first NCHA Regular Season title.
• It won’t come easy, and the Saints will need stellar play from their two-time, defending NCHA Player of the Week goalkeeper, senior Zach Kleiman, if they want to take another game from the Green Knights, who they split with in Green Bay earlier this season. The Saints have not defeated the Knights twice in a season since the 1992-93 campaign when they swept three meetings against St. Norbert.
• With a win against St. Norbert, the Saints will have plenty of reason for optimism: their remaining schedule will be played entirely in the Twin ports, and they are undefeated against their remaining three opponents this season, including Wis.-Stevens Point, who they host Saturday.
• Men’s and women’s basketball take the long trip to Minn., Morris and Presentation over the weekend, after splitting with Northland last weekend. Freshman Brett Tester led the men to a victory with 18 points, while senior Kirsten Haukom scored 10 points in the women’s loss.
• MILESTONE WATCH: Haukom needs just 10 more points to become the 11th player in program history to register 1,000 career points. She ought to accomplish it this weekend, so let us be the first to congratulate her on that impressive feat.
• The men have nothing quite as exciting to watch for this weekend, but they did sweep the PC Saints and Morris Cougars when the teams traveled to the BWC last month, so they have plenty of reason for optimism.
• For our Nordic ski teams, junior Waylon Manske and sophomore Eleanor Magnuson continued their succss with another impressive weekend at Telemark. Coach Salmela called Manske’s weekend the best of his career, so read about that here and here, and Magnuson and the women here and here.
• Since we couldn’t have Coach Salmela on for 5 Questions this week, and he will soon be off to the Olympics, here’s a link to an interview I did with him about that very subject earlier this school year.
• Saints sophomore Wendell Booth met the preliminary qualifying mark for the NCAAs in the long jump last weekend, for the second straight season. For his 22-ft-9-inch jump, Booth won the event and was named UMAC Men’s Indoor Track & Field performer of the week. Sophomore teammate Alec Seeley broke her own previous school record, tossing it a distance of 38’-3.5” (11.67m) to win the event and her own UMAC Athlete of the Week honors.
• Spring must be in the air because tennis season begins tomorrow. The teams will both play host to the University of St. Thomas, starting with the women at 1:30 pm.
• As for our other spring sports, softball and baseball begin in 10 and 25 days, respectively, so look out for their presence in these blog posts coming soon.

That’s all for today… if you’re a student reading this, enjoy Snowball tomorrow evening and don’t be a fool about it. If you’re just a fan, then I’ll see you at the hockey games. Enjoy the weekend!

Take it easy,
-jh

Points & Prattle #13

Good afternoon, sportsfans!

The days go slow, but the week goes quick. It’s Friday, and that means that it’s time for another exciting edition of Points & Prattle. There’s plenty to cover, so let’s get straight into it.

• The Saints split their weekend UMAC series last week in men’s and women’s basketball as I made my debut behind the mic for PA duty, so the women and men still sit at fourth and fifth, respectively, in the conference.
• The stars of the weekend for basketball were junior Chris Hamers, on the men’s side, and freshman Bri Allen for the women. Hamers went 7-for-19 from three-point land, netting 43 points on the weekend. Allen was a perfect 9-for-9 on free throws and earned 29 points in two games.
• The two teams are back in action tomorrow afternoon against conference rival Northland. The LumberJills are a perfect 7-0 atop the UMAC, while the ’Jacks, at 2-5, sit 7th on the men’s side.
• More intriguing, the two coaches for the men’s game will be sporting sneakers on the sideline as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits & Sneakers Weekend. For more information, check out the Coaches vs. Cancer web site and then pull on your favorite Nikes and get out to the game tomorrow.
• The Saints men’s hockey team bounced back to the No. 5 spot in the USCHO poll after a sweep of conference rival Wis.-Eau Claire last weekend, though it did not come without tribulations. Early in the second period, sophomore goaltender Brennan Poderzay was knocked out of the game, forcing senior Zach Kleiman to come in. Kleiman performed admirably, not allowing a goal on the night as his Saints rallied from two down to earn a 5-2 victory.
• Saturday, Kleiman again stepped up and earned the victory, allowing just one goal as the Saints completed the sweep. For his impressive weekend, Kleiman was named NCHA Player of the Week. Congrats, Zach!
• The Saints Nordic ski teams again had an impressive weekend at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis, with Waylon Manske and Mason Bacso leading the men while Julia Curry and Eleanor Magnuson led the Saints women. Click these links for more.
• Nordic returns to the snow tomorrow afternoon for a two-day event in Telemark, Wis.
• Accolades continue to roll in for the Saints’ indoor track and field team as again they swept the UMAC Player of the Week awards. Justin Hanson won on the men’s side after breaking school records in both the 60- and 200-meter hurdles at the Blizzard Open. Freshman Rachel Miller broke her own team triple jump record for the third consecutive meet at 35-feet, 4.5 inches at the same event. I could not dream of triple-jumping that far (or running hurdles, for that matter). Congrats to both Justin and Rachel!
• I told you last week that we were on the cusp of spring sports appearing in P&P, and I did not lie: the Saints baseball team got some good news over the week when they learned that they were starting the year ranked No. 22 on the d3baseball.com preseason poll. On the schedule, the Saints are slated to face two ranked teams: No. 25 St. Olaf and No. 1 St. Thomas. The Saints stole one last year against the eventual-National Champion Tommies. They’ll meet up again on Mar. 7 on Mall of America Field for a doubleheader.
• Last, but certainly not least, it was announced that the Saints led the way in Fall Academic All-UMAC honors. Click here for the entire list and here for just the Saints. Congrats to all 70 of our student athletes who earned the honor.

That’s all for now, folks. “5 Questions” returns next Monday with Nordic Ski coach Chad Salmela, just days before he heads off to Vancouver for the Olympics! So, keep an eye out for that! And we’ll see you and your Nikes at the basketball doubleheader tomorrow.

Take it easy,
-jh

Points & Prattle, Vol. 12 - Happy 51st Blog post.

Good afternoon, sportsfans!

Here's some classic moments in blogging history:

• Men’s & Women’s Basketball tip off our CSS weekend this week because they’re at home. There’s very little for me to say because Chris Doran has a pair of great previews here (men’s) and here (women’s).
• The Saints men come into the weekend as winners of three of their last four since the calendar turned to 2010, most recently falling to conference foe Northland College on Saturday. For the fourth straight game, Danny Schmitz led CSS in scoring, netting 17 points in a losing effort. The Saints men will look to turn their fortunes around tonight.
• The Saints women also come into the weekend off a loss to Northland, with Kirsten Haukom leading the way with 13 points. The Saints have split their last four games, picking up a win and then dropping a game consecutively, so they might be on track for a victory tonight (and, hopefully, a snap of that streak by picking up another Saturday).
• Last week was a disappointing one for all the Saints’ team-sports with the hockey team taking one on the chin Friday night before having a victory stolen from them and settling for a tie on Saturday. Words can not describe my frustration with the officiating on the entire weekend, but it’s best we leave it at that in fear of losing my job. Brennan Poderzay continued to shine in net both nights, and the Saints had 10 players with points on Saturday, so there are some positives to take out of the weekend.
• The Saints, now 7th in the USCHO poll, will need to rebound quickly as they travel to Wis.-Eau Claire this weekend for another conference series with a lot on the line. As always, you can catch the game locally on ESPN Radio 560-WEBC, and online here.
• Track & Field continued success in their indoor season as Peter Drinkwine and Tara Connolly shined at the Super 8 Invite in Bemidji, earning UMAC Player of the Week honors for their efforts. Drinkwine leaped a personal-best 42’-2.25” (12.86m) in the triple jump to finish second and Connolly was the only CSS performer to win her event as she took first place in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:18.08 seconds.
• The Saints Nordic team, led by the Bacso brothers (Mason and Kasey), successfully defended their Minnesota College Championship for the third straight season on the men’s side. The Saints women also earned back-to-back titles, getting off to a strong start by Julia Curry who finished third to lead CSS.
• Spring sports started up their preseason this week (at least in the form of captain’s practices), just a month away from opening day for baseball and softball and a couple weeks for tennis. We’ll be busy, busy around here soon as well, which isn’t so bad for me. I’ll have more to write about.
• Another reminder that I’ll be performing PA duties at the basketball games for the first time ever this weekend, so it will be an interesting experience for all of us.
• It’s a new semester, so if you’re new to the blog, be sure to follow us on Twitter @thejoehansen and @csssaints. Or, if Facebook is more your thing, you can become a fan of the Saints here.

That’s all for today. Hope to see you at the games this weekend, and if not, enjoy the NFL Championship games on Sunday - and when you get home from basketball tonight, tune in to Conan.

Take it easy,
-jh

Points & Prattle, Vol 11 - Dec. 11, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Good morning, St. Scholastica!

It’s that time of the week. The time when I try to remember what happened during the week and what is upcoming. However, this week, the energy is on high because apparently, there’s some interesting hockey games taking place this weekend. I can’t remember exactly. Maybe we’ll explore that more later.

• A trio of Shout Outs!!! This week for you, from Coaches Deadrick, Salmela, and Wick. Coach Staniger is still to come today.
• Coach Deadrick’s squad, the CSS women’s basketball team, had a pretty good week, to put things lightly. Now 4-5 overall, the Saints hit the century mark in a 101-67 victory over North Central and shot a program-best 60 percent from the field. They also set a new program record for assists with 29 and had 16 players score. Quite a game, quite a game. They’re off until Monday, when they take on Wis.-Superior across the border.
• After being off last week when their meet was cancelled due to lack of snow, the Saints Nordic ski squad is back in action this week in Ironwood, Mich. for the USSA Early Season Classic. While Duluth finally got some snow this week, I’m sure they’re excited to get back on the trails!
• The CSS men’s basketball team has had a tough week, losing two games on the weekend by a combined seven points and then getting ousted in their gym by North Central on Tuesday. But tomorrow, they will look to turn their fortune around against Carleton College. You can catch a preview of the game here, written by fellow CSS student intern Chris Doran.
• I feel bad having forgotten about them last week when they were hosting a meet, but men’s and women’s track & field is underway with their indoor season, and two Saints already received UMAC honors. The first conference Players of the Week for Track & Field are freshman Justin Hanson and sophomore Alec Seeley. Hanson broke the 55m hurdles record at the BWC, while Seeley won the shot put with an 11.06m throw.
• While not playing games for some 300 days, the CSS women’s hockey team has over half of their team recruited, or so says coach Jackie MacMillan, including some local products.
• Last, but certainly not least, there is a men’s hockey game tonight, but I think you already knew that. I’ll be there, you should be, too. It’s going to be a packed house, but I assure you: that makes the atmosphere that much better. Get there early.
• Congrats to Jordan Chong on being named the “third star” of the week in the NCHA, scoring the short-handed game-winner last Friday night against St. Norbert, and another short-handed tally on Saturday.
• There’s also a hockey game tomorrow, but that one, you don’t have to be at Mars Lakeview Arena to enjoy (although, as I said, it will be that much better if you are). Saturday’s game will be broadcast on My9, and as always, both nights, you can listen to the games on ESPN Radio560-WEBC.

That’s all for today. Just one more blog before we take a much-needed holiday break. Hopefully, I come up with something interesting between now and Tuesday. But until then, take it easy and enjoy your weekend.

Go Saints!
-jh

Points & Prattle, Vol 10 -- Dec. 4, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Good morning, Saints!

Time for another edition of Points & Prattle here on Voice of the Saints. It’s been a relatively slow week around here, and it’s a home-game-less weekend, which means plenty of time for my plethora of homework to be done… Sigh. But before we get to that, let’s look back at the week that was here at CSS.

• The No. 7 Saints men’s hockey team had an impressive Thanksgiving weekend, defeating Salem State on Friday night thanks to a goal from senior Jordan Baird in OT. Salem then went on to down the then-No. 1 team in the country, St. Norbert, on Saturday afternoon 3-0. CSS then went on to handily defeat Lawrence University Saturday evening by a 7-3 final, which included the first goal of the season for senior Jordan Chong. In the end, it moved the Saints up one spot from eight and moved Norbert down to third going into this weekend’s conference showdown.
• The Saints will need to take at least a couple points from St. Norbert this weekend if they want to slow down the conference leaders, who, at 6-0-0 in-conference with 12 points, is at least five points better than its next highest competitor and six ahead of CSS.
• Baird was named the third star of the weekend in the NCHA for his game-winner.
• Comparatively, the men’s basketball team had a relatively disappointing weekend, facing off against border rival Wis.-Superior on Saturday afternoon and falling by a 78-59 final. The Saints are 1-3 on the young season, but have plenty of reason for optimism entering conference play against Northwestern and Crown colleges this weekend.
• Check out Coach Staniger’s Shout-Out!!! to the fans this week here.
• The CSS women’s basketball team also had a disappointing weekend, falling in two games at the Wis.-Stout Tournament to the host-Blue Devils as well as Wartburg College. Despite the one-sided scores, senior Kirsten Haukom still had a good weekend, just barely missing a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds on Saturday afternoon.
• Last, but certainly not least, our Nordic ski team enjoyed a week in Yellowstone last weekend, and finally got to see some snow. I go to junior Mason Bacso for my Nordic ski updates, and he says it was a successful week which included a lot of training, a lot of fun, and the movie “Scent of a Woman” on Thanksgiving.
• Of those skiers who did compete, junior Julia Curry and freshman Kasey Bacso led the women’s and men’s teams, respectively. For more info, check out the write-ups here and here.

I have nothing to shamelessly plug this week, so that might be all we have for this go-around. Next week, expect a write-up previewing next week’s hockey Bridge Battle against UWS on Tuesday-ish and another P&P on Friday morning.

Just 20 shopping days ’til Christmas,
-jh

Points and Prattle, Vol. 9 - Nov. 20, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Good morning, St. Scholastica!

On one of the biggest college hockey weekends in the city of Duluth, Minn. in the 2009-10 season, the Saints are on a bye week, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have plenty to get excited about here at St. Scholastica with men’s and women’s basketball well underway and the fall sports teams still racking up the accolades for an impressive season!

• The fall season came to a close for at least one team last week as the Saints women fell by a 3-0 score to the Macalester Scots in the NCAA tournament. There’s nothing to hang their heads about, they had a great season and battled back from some injuries. Congrats on a great season!
• With their season over, the CSS men’s team received a pair of prestigious awards this week as Toby Peter (Jr.) was named a Second Team Academic All-American by CoSIDA (College Sports Info. Directors of America) and ESPN (I think you know what this is), and Geofrey Kalanzi (Fr.) was announced as the recipient of the prestigious National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Lea Plarski Award. Read more about Kalanzi and the award here.
• Katelyn Meger (Sr.) will not let the fall sports season end. She’s off to Nationals for cross country, her second straight appearance, after finishing ninth in the NCAA Central Regional last week. Congrats, Katelyn! I know you’ll do CSS proud.
• Men’s basketball saw the nation’s longest winning streak come to an end in their season opener Sunday against Wis.-Eau Claire, but rebounded with an impressive victory over North Central Tuesday. The Saints will tip-off against Concordia-Moorhead tomorrow night, which can be seen live here.
• As discussed in this week’s “5 Questions,” Coach Stacy Deadrick has inched one step closer to 200 career victories with win #199 Tuesday against North Central. The Saints are at Wis.-Stevens Point for a tournament this weekend and will take on Concordia-Moorhead and Stevens Point or Rockford College. The tournament web site can be found here.
• Read some quick previews on this weekend’s basketball games here (men’s) and here (women’s), courtesy of my fellow sports information intern Chris Doran.
• As I stated earlier, the Saints men’s hockey team is off this weekend after a pair of ties that was as frustrating as it was exciting in last weekend’s series against Wis.-Stout. Despite the ties, the Saints jumped Stout in the rankings and are now No. 8 in the nation, according to the USCHO.com/NCAA Division-III poll.
• Next weekend, the puck drops on our Thanksgiving Classic as the Saints play host to Salem (Mass.) State on Friday night and Lawrence (Wis.) Univ. on Saturday night with a 7:05 p.m. start time each night. The No. 1 team in the nation, St. Norbert, will play the opposite team each day at 3:30 p.m. With the short week next week, we won’t have a 5 Questions, but Tuesday or Wednesday, I’ll be posting a preview of the tournament action, so stay tuned for that.
• Finally, the Saints Nordic Ski team starts this season this week in West Yellowstone, Mont. Good luck to them this season, and I hope they enjoy their trip!

That’s all I have for you on a relatively slow week in CSS athletics. Stay tuned for the aforementioned Saints Thanksgiving Classic preview next week.

Enjoy your weekends,
-jh
Go Saints!

Points and Prattle, Vol. 8 - Nov. 13, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Good morning, St. Scholastica!

A Happy Friday the 13th to you all! Sportscenter asked this morning who my favorite player who wore/wears #13 is – and I emphatically said NOT Alex Rodriguez, but that’s neither here nor there – which made me think of Saints athletes who wore number 13 in recent years. Here’s the list, as I can tell:

• Baseball: Adian Kummet (’09)
• Basketball: Kyle Allen (’09)
• Football: Drew Holm (So.)
• Hockey: Shawn Barlette (’08)
• Soccer: Abby Arrowsmith (Sr.), Geofrey Kalanzi (Fr.)
• Volleyball: Emily Lindquist (Fr.), Erin Niles (’09)

So, as you can see: a pretty star-studded group of current and former athletes, but still rather sparse in terms of numbers. It would seem that in the sports where players have the most leeway to choose their numbers, they aren’t taking 13. Superstitious? Maybe. With that out of the way, let’s review a busy week of Saints athletics with the latest edition of Points & Prattle:

• The week began with the crowning of three UMAC tournament champions, adding to our collection of five on the fall season, as men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball joined men’s and women’s cross country atop the conference.
• If you weren’t at any of these games, you missed some great action. You can catch the women’s soccer championship game (with commentary from yours truly) on demand by clicking here.
• Speaking of commentary from yours truly… Did you miss Saints hockey taking on Saint John’s last Friday? Check that here.
• …but back to the Fall sports, we saw an impressive second season come to an end for Saints football on Saturday as they fell to Martin Luther. But there is plenty of reason for optimism coming off a 4-6 season which saw the Saints finishing third in the UMAC. All-Conference football awards should be announced soon, and I suspect we will see more than a few Saints honored this year.
• Already this week, the Saints have had 11 athletes selected to the First Team All-UMAC in their respective sports, and six more chosen as Honorable Mentions. Check out the names, headed by two-time UMAC Player of the Year Toby Peter (Jr.), by clicking your favorite sport: Men’s Soccer, Volleyball, Women’s Soccer.
• Saints soccer isn’t done as of yet, because the Saints women’s team was selected for the third straight season to compete in the NCAA Tournament. They will take on Macalester tomorrow evening, and you can catch live video of it here, starting at 7:30 p.m.
• They are joined in NCAA competition this weekend by the cross country teams who will compete at the NCAA Regional in Grinell, Iowa. Coach Pfingsten previews the meet here.
• The 10th ranked Saints men’s hockey team returns to their home ice tonight against No. 9 Wis-Stout. A sweep could put the Saints alone atop the NCHA standings as fellow conference leaders No. 1 St. Norbert and No.8 Wis.-River Falls do battle with Wis.-Stevens Point and Wis.-Eau Claire, respectively. Coach Wick previewed the match-up in his first ShoutOut! Of the year.
• Saints men’s basketball goes to work on defending their own UMAC Tournament championship starting Sunday when they take on Wis.-Eau Claire. Coach Staniger sat down for 5 Questions with VOTS earlier this week, talking about his young team, who was picked to finish third in the UMAC this year, despite touting the nation’s longest winning streak at 11 straight games.
• The Saints women don’t start this season until next Tuesday when they take on North Central, but it was announced earlier this week that UMAC coaches tabbed them to finish fourth in the conference.

That’s about all that’s going on for Saints athletics this week. Stay current with CSSsaints.com, and click to proper links on the side to follow the Saints on Twitter and Facebook. We’ll be back next week with more.

Enjoy your weekend,
-jh
Go Saints!

5 QUESTIONS ...with Men's Basketball Coach David Staniger!

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Good morning, St. Scholastica!

We're a day late, but that's never stopped me before. It's time for the newest edition of 5 Questions on VOTS, and today's guest is head men's basketball coach David Staniger! We had a good chat about championship games, leadership, and new players. He seems excited about the time, set to make their home debut this Sunday against Wis.-Eau Claire -- so be there! Without further adu...



Enjoy, and I'll see you Friday for Points & Prattle!

Go Saints!
-jh

Points and Prattle, Vol. 1 – Sept. 11, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Eight years ago today, my friend Steve told me “I guess a plane crashed into a building somewhere…” as we walked into gym class. Little did I know at the time, that plane crash would change the course of history forever. We should all take a moment today to think about the people whose lives were affected by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. I know I will.

The first week of classes for the 2009-10 school year has come and gone for CSS students. Hopefully by now, the freshman have adapted to their surroundings and have lost that confused look on their faces. Our sports teams are on the road this week, so no work for me this weekend. Instead, I’ll be focusing on homework! But without any further ado, here’s the first edition of Points and Prattle:

• I tried my hand at play-by-play for women’s soccer for the first time last weekend (vs. Wis.-River Falls). It’s a work in progress, but I think it turned out okay. I don’t believe I’ve been relieved of my duties yet, so I should get another shot soon.
• Speaking of women’s soccer, they picked up a pair of victories this week, including in the aforementioned Sunday afternoon meeting with the WIAC’s Falcons. First-year Saint Megan Stingle netted the overtime game-winner and then gave us a fantastic celebration photo. Wednesday’s 7-1 victory over the Northland LumberJills was a bit more understated, but still just as important, earning the Saints a current 1-0 record in the UMAC. As they say, you can’t win them all if you don’t win the first.
• Men’s soccer earned themselves a 6-0 win as well against Northland, and are now 2-0 to start the season, accomplishing a feat which, surprisingly, they have not done since 2004. Freshman Joshua Odukomaya earned himself seven points, including a hat trick and one assist. The Saints’ six-goal shutout was the largest margin of victory for the Saints since Oct. 12, 2007 when they defeated Martin Luther College by the same 6-0 score.
• While on that subject, congrats to Courtney Bonnick and Dustin James for sweeping the UMAC Player of the Week awards for Men’s Soccer! Dustin’s game-tying goal and Courtney’s game-winner made for quite an exciting game against Macalester last week.
• Football started their second season with a 40-19 loss to Concordia-Chicago, but not through lack of effort. The Saints had the lead – twice – and also made a late surge that fell short. Quarterback Jake Olson started the game, going 22-30 with 240 passing yards and 2 TDs including an 80-yard touchdown pass to Mike VanMassenhove before being relieved by Alex Thiry, who went 4-4 for 31 yards and a score. All in all, it was a disappointing loss but a good jumping off point for the young Saints.
• Women’s and men’s cross country finished third and fourth, respectively, in their first meet of the season, the Tom Barry Invitational. The meet was highlighted for CSS with impressive showings by Katelyn Meger, who finished third, and Tara Connolly, who finished eighth. Nick Mangan was the lone top-10 finisher for the men, but they all ran well.
• Last, but certainly not least, volleyball has gotten off to a slow start, but rebounded with their first victories of the season on Wednesday at the Augsburg triangular. Paige Hardy was the star of the day with 23 kills in two games against Augsburg and Wis.-River Falls. Their first win was all the 225th career win of volleyball head coach Dana Moore. Congrats!
• Speaking of Dana Moore, she was the second coach to do a Shout Out! for the CSS YouTube account. Check out hers or the first, starring head football coach Greg Carlson here.
• Not much for news this week at CSS, although men’s basketball and men’s track & field both added some impressive recruits for their upcoming seasons.
• If you haven’t already, become a fan of the Saints on Facebook and follow CSS or myself on Twitter. Warning: my tweets are often irrelevant and always random.

VOTS will return next Tuesday with the debut of my coach’s interview series, starting with head volleyball coach Dana Moore! We’ll talk about positive attitudes, slow starts, and how to truly appreciate volleyball. So, be sure to check that out!

Enjoy your weekend,
-jh