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.

Points & Prattle XVIII

It’s officially baseball season, folks, which puts yours truly in a good mood. Spring sports are in full stride, while winter sports are just starting to wind down, which means we have a stuffed file for Points & Prattle this week, which means I should pipe down and get to the stories…

• As previously stated, baseball season is in full swing as the Saints opened their season Tuesday late night into Wednesday morning, taking on the Hamline Pipers. The Saints swept the doubleheader, with senior Steve Gerten leading the way. He was 2-for-6 at the plate with three RBIs while also throwing 5.0 innings while allowing just two runs. Sophomore Tom Juberian also shined on the night, going 5-for-7 with three RBIs of his own. (Full Story)
• The ’Dome opener was mere prologue to what will undoubtedly be the biggest two-game set of the Saints early season as they take on No. 1 St. Thomas on Sunday night. The Tommies are the defending D-III National champs and took three of four games from the Saints last season, but CSS has played them tough in the past and is looking for revenge. (Full Story)
• In a follow-up to their program-best six Saints voted into All-NCHA honors, CSS has put 11 Saints on the All-NCHA Academic Team. Eleven is a bit much to be listing all the names (which is good, I’d say), so you can follow the link to find out who. (Full Story)
• Speaking of men’s hockey, did you miss the debut of Saints Behind the Scenes? It’s not too late, because it’s here:

• Those were happier times for the Saints, who fell this past weekend to Wis.-River Falls in the NCHA Semifinals. The season may not yet be over, as we’ll be forced to wait until Sunday when the NCAA brackets are released, but as was stated earlier, the Saints may need some help in conference championships, including their own, to earn the bid. You can follow the St. Norbert vs. Wis.-River Falls NCHA Championship game on Saturday here (hopefully that works), and view the bracket when it’s announced on USCHO. I know the Saints played well enough to make the tournament, but sadly, they slipped at the wrong time and have left it up to a committee to decide their fate. Only time will tell.
• On to more optimistic news, the Saints swept the UMAC Indoor Track & Field championships last weekend, so congrats to the men and women, and also took home 23 All-UMAC awards. Not a bad week, here’s the full list for men and women.
• No rest for the weary or the honored, because track sends players to the Pointer Qualifier in Stevens Point this weekend.
• The Saints women’s tennis team defeated St. Kate’s on the weekend, 7-2, improving to 4-3 going into their Spring trip next week. Junior Callee Conda, senior Kelly Ross, and freshman Milly Che Leon each had wins in singles and in doubles on the day. (Full Story)
• Their male counterparts did not fair as well, falling to St. Cloud State to drop to 0-4, but looking forward, they, too, have the sunshine state ahead of them, where hopefully, they can turn the season around. (Full Story)

The next week will be quite quiet around these parts, but we’ll have some blog content coming your way, as teams prepare for Spring trips and I prepare to hang out in tropical Duluth for the week. Best of luck to those teams that are in action this weekend, and I hope everyone can get out and enjoy the weekend, as I plan to! Hopefully this half decent Duluth weather holds up! Take it easy, all!

-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

CSS vs. UWS: NCHA Playoffs Preview

If you're a fan of mine (Mom, that's you!) and you're itching for some midweek writing by me OR if you're a fan of the CSS men's hockey team (that's everybody else), check out this NCHA Peters Cup Quarterfinals preview at csssaints.com.

That is all.

See you Friday with more,
-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 Playoff Preview (Vol. 7) – Nov. 3, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Good morning St. Scholastica,

It’s time for a special Tuesday edition of Points and Prattle, and not just because we missed it last week. We’ll have 5 Questions this Friday, and then return to our normal programming schedule next week. Today is an important day for the Saints because it’s the semifinals of the UMAC Tournament for three of our Fall sports. So, this is a Playoff Preview edition of Points & Prattle (gotta love that alliteration!)

Men’s Soccer

• Finishing second in the UMAC, the Saints men’s soccer team will play host to Northwestern College this morning at 11:30 a.m. In their two regular season meetings, the Saints swept the Eagles by scores of 5-1 on the road at 2-0 at home.
• The Saints come in on a four-game undefeated streak while the Eagles come off a loss to Crown College last Friday night.
• The Saints men have not lost a UMAC first round match since the 1998 season.

Women’s Soccer

• The women’s team, who won their sixth straight UMAC regular season title this season, will play host to the University of Minnesota, Morris at 2 p.m. on Saints Field. CSS shut out the Cougars in each of their two meetings this season by scores of 1-0 and 4-0.
• Sophomore goalkeepers Bailey Mahlum and Erin Olejnicak each have two shutouts of the Cougars during their careers at CSS.
• The Saints women won the UMAC tournament in each of the past two seasons

Volleyball

• After getting the chance to watch the women’s volleyball team for the first time this past weekend, I can assure you that they can win any game against any opponent. They are extremely talented, but more importantly, they have a lot of fight in them.
• The Saints finished second to three-time defending champion Northwestern in this year’s regular season and will host Northland College on Tuesday evening (7 p.m. – Reif Gym in the BWC on campus). CSS swept the season series against the LumberJills, beating Northland in straight sets when they hosted them last week, but took five games in Ashland on Oct. 14 to earn the win.
• The Saints have not faced Northland in the postseason since the 2002 season, when the Saints swept the ’Jills 3-0.

Best of luck to each of our three teams playing today, and we hope that you will be able to get out to the games (despite the inconvenient timing of the soccer matches) to cheer on the Saints!

Enjoy your week,
-jh
Go Saints!