Points & Prattle (Oct. 15, 2010)

Good morning sportsfans,

After a short hiatus for the sake of… being way too busy, Points & Prattle returns to the Voice of the Saints blog! My apologies to anyone who was looking forward to it (Mom?), and I’ll do my best to be more diligent about getting these blogs to you weekly. So, without further ado…

Cross Country
The Saints men and women both ran well in Iowa last week at the Wartburg Invite. This week, they’ll be competing at two meets – half of the team at the Brooks Invitational hosted by the University of Wis.-Oshkosh while the other goes to St. Bonifacius for the Crown Invitational. Now, the points:

• While we were out, Jessie Lovering won the Northland Invite. We never got a chance to properly congratulate here, so congrats, Jessie! She also paced the Saints with a top-10 finish at last week’s Wartburg Invite.
• On the men’s side, Nick Mangan has paced the men for two straight weeks, finishing third at Northland and 12th at Wartburg.
• This week will be the first time that the Saints will score as a team at the Brooks Invitational. Last season, they had six runners run four personal bests and two season-bests at the race. All in a days work…

Football
Saints football stumbled at home for the first time this season last week, but they were tripped up by a powerful Greenville squad, who remain undefeated in the UMAC with the victory. This week, the Saints are on a bye, so there’s not much to say, but let’s do a little house-cleaning from the past two weeks:

• Defensive end Chas Lemon was named to the D3Football.com Team of the Week for Week 5, making five tackles including one TFL and a batted pass. He also made an athletic tip-ball interception which he returned for a program-record 55 yards.
• Alex Thiry and Justin Trautmiller were named UMAC Players of the Week last week. Thiry was 20-26 for 265 yards while throwing four TDs while Trautmiller collected a program-record three interceptions against Crown.
• Next week, the Saints return to action against Minn.-Morris in Cougar country. The Cougars stumbled against Martin Luther last week, but will get a chance to rebound before they face the Saints, taking on Northwestern this week.

Men’s Soccer
It was a roller coaster of emotions for the Saints’ men last weekend, beginning Friday with breaking six offensive program records and ending Sunday with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the nationally-ranked University of Wis.-Oshkosh. Here’s the points:

• Cody Sveiven was named UMAC Player of the Week, and rightfully so. He scored 10 points last Friday against Northland, including four assists. Both are program records.
• His accomplishments somehow overshadowed Jermaine Dacres’ five-minute, 57-second natural hat trick, the seventh-fastest in NCAA history, and (obviously) the fastest in program history.
• Altogether, the Saints scored 13 goals in the win, as well as 20 assists, for 46 points. All of those statistics are also program records.
• Sunday, the Saints were forced to play a man-down for 30 minutes after a pair of yellow cards sent a player to the showers early, but played outstanding against a nationally-ranked Wis.-Oshkosh team. I’d argue that the Saints are beyond moral victories at this point, but at the very least, they definitely gained the Titans’ respect in that game.

Volleyball
I had the opportunity to watch last Friday’s volleyball match with Northwestern as a fan, and I must say, the Burns Wellness Commons was pumped up to see the Saints down the dreaded Eagles, and in three sets! The Saints are still at home this weekend, so be sure to head out to the BWC for more action tonight and tomorrow.

• After sweeping the UMAC awards for several straight weeks, the Saints volleyball team has gone a couple weeks without an honor from the conference, and I say: what gives? They just earned two sweeps last weekend, and they’re undefeated in the UMAC… But I’m just saying.
• CSS has not been undefeated through seven conference games since the 1999 season, when they were 8-0. They will look to match that tonight and extend it on Saturday.
• CSS will play Minn.-Morris this evening, and take on Presentation and Wis.-Oshkosh tomorrow afternoon. The CSS Saints are a combined 34-2 all-time against their conference opponents this weekend, including a perfect 19-0 against Presentation. It will be no cake walk, but the Saints definitely have a couple of victories within their grasp.

Women’s Hockey
We’re just 21 days from the start of the CSS women’s hockey season, and the Saints held their first tryout/practice this morning. You can see a photo gallery here.

Women’s Soccer
Since I didn’t link to it in the men’s section, the Saints men and women will both be on the road this weekend against Morris and Presentation (I’m noticing a theme here…), and may lock themselves into a high seed in the UMAC tournament with a pair of victories this weekend. It won’t be easy, but there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic.

• The Saints goalkeepers Bailey Mahlum (four) and Molly Bergmann (two) have shutout opponents for six straight contests, including last week’s 3-0 defeat of Northland College.
• The youth movement continues a-rolling as the Saints have eight first- or second-year players leading the team in scoring this season, none moreso than Shannon Carlson, who leads the team with 15 points via six goals and three assists. Right behind her are Rainee Eby (5 G, 3 A, 13 pts), and Taylor Cunningham (5 G, 1 A, 11 pts).
• The Saints will return home on Tuesday for a game against Augsburg.

Well, that’s all for this week. Thanks for reading.

Points & Prattle (Sept. 24, 2010)

Good morning sportsfans,

Time for an abbreviated edition of Points & Prattle for this week. We'll be back with plenty for next week's Homecoming spectacular, but I've been out of the office so much this week that I should probably get down to business on some actual work around here. So, without further adu, the points:

• Football will look to bounce back from its first loss of the season last week. The trip to Chicago was not as successful as hoped, but it’s a non-conference loss – since we’re heading into conference play this week, it’s time to look forward rather than back.
• Cross Country returns to action this week, as they will run the Roy Griak Invitational. It’s probably the biggest race they’ll run of the year in terms of volume, and probably second in terms of importance to the Conference Championship. It even has its own Facebook page.
• Men’s Soccer continues to roll, earning an overtime win off the foot of Jermaine Dacres on Tuesday afternoon over St. Thomas, their first victory over the Tommies since 1994. The Saints finally return to Saints Field for a six-game homestand starting this weekend.
• Congrats to Rob Johnson for being named UMAC Player of the Week. He was also the St. Scholastica student newspaper’s (The Cable) Athlete of the Week. Congrats, Rob!
• The Saints volleyball team is still off to their hot start, despite going 2-2 last weekend, and open UMAC play this week. The Saints start on the road, but they are road-tested, with no better proof than the fact that Paige Hardy, Nikki Hughes, and Sarah Kurtovich swept the UMAC Player of the Week honors this week.
• Women’s Soccer remained undefeated in conference play last weekend, going 1-0-1 on the weekend. They, too, return home this weekend for an extended stay. While the Saints have lacked offensive firepower, they have still been able to stay off the losing end the past couple of weeks, so things are looking up for the young Saints. We’ll see if they can start a winning streak back home.
• A reminder that I’ll be on the iFan Sports Network this weekend, lending my voice to the Saints soccer broadcasts, provided the weather holds up. You can listen/watch live here.

Well, that is it. I told you it would be abbreviated. I confined all my ramblings into a few short paragraphs. Good job, Joe! Thanks for reading. We’ll see you next week.

SUMMER SESSIONS w/Cross Country Coach Steve Pfingsten

Summer Sessions Episode #3
w/Saints Head Cross Country Coach Steve Pfingsten

Well, our Saints coaches are more difficult to get ahold of then they appear, so we've had a bit of a layoff on Summer Sessions episodes, but I hope to have this and one more up by the end of the week. I hope to see you then! Without further adu, enjoy the video:

Thanks for watching!

-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!

Points and Prattle, Vol. 6 - Oct. 23, 2009

Good morning, St. Scholastica!

It’s been a relatively quick week here at CSS Sports Information, but with men’s and women’s soccer home all weekend, it’s about to get busy for at least a few days. Even more importantly, we are just one week away from the start of hockey season. There’s no better feeling in the world.

• With winter sports starting next week, it’s a good thing I finished up the fall coaches in 5 Questions this week when we interviewed head women’s soccer coach Dave Reyelts. The interview went great, and it’s one of my favorites to date. (Who knew I was a poet?) So check it out.
• Dave’s lady Saints had their hands full last week with Crown and Northwestern colleges coming to town, but they escaped with a pair of wins thanks to late-game heroics and excellent goal-tending by sophomore ’keepers Bailey Mahlum and Erin Olejnicak.
• For her efforts, which included stopping three breakaway plays by the Storm in route to a shutout, Olejnicak was named the All-UMAC Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon. Congrats Erin!
• Also named All-UMAC was volleyball’s Sarah Kurtovich, her second-such honor for setting duties in her freshman campaign. She averaged nine assists per set last weekend as the Saints swept Martin Luther 3-0 and edged Bethany Lutheran 3-1. They now have six straight wins going into tonight’s match-up with Minnesota-Morris, which can be seen on the Cougar Sports Network. And that has nothing to do with this sort of Cougar either.
• Men’s soccer had an interesting night on Wednesday as tempers flared against Augsburg. I wouldn’t say the chippiness was the reason, but the Saints did fall for the first time in five games by a 2-1 final. This weekend, Presentation and Minn.-Morris will get to face a frustrated Saints team, and I don’t envy the position. Goalkeeper Sam Reed is now third in the UMAC in goals against average and save percentage, as well as first in shutouts with seven.
• Football dropped their first conference game of the year last week to perennial conference power Northwestern by a 55-28 score. Senior Chris Henagin had another 100+ yard game on the ground as well as putting a pair of touchdowns on the board.
• I must first apologize because the last time I did one of these, I left out Cross Country. That was an accident on my part, and I want to say that the CC runners are just as important to us as any other sport. That being said, cross country competed at two different events last week, and did quite well for themselves.
• At the Concordia-Moorhead Cobber Invite, senior Tara Connolly ran third for the women who finished second overall while sophomore Jim Linn led the men to a third place finish, running 13th overall.
• Meanwhile, on the complete other side of the state (and even further, I suppose), six runners competed at the Wis.-Oshkosh Brooks Invite. Pat Bigaouette, Nick Mangan, and Tony Bye each ran personal bests that were good for second, fourth, and fifth all-time on the Saints all-time list. Katelyn Meger led the women with a 22nd place finish, while Jessie Lovering and Kristin Gronbeck each ran their season-best time.
• And I don’t know why I keep putting myself through this by posting the link, but I’ve certainly never been more “proud” of my hometown than I was upon reading this story.

While, that’s all for this week. Things will get pretty busy next week as fall and winter sports start to overlap, but I have something special planned to coincide with the start of hockey season, so stay tuned for that.

Have a fabulous weekend,
-jh
Go Saints!

Points and Prattle, Vol. 3 – Oct. 2, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Good morning, St. Scholastica!

When I said I’d “try something new” this week, my intentions were not to forget about the VOTS audience, but it happened to end up that way. My sincerest apologies! I’ve been busy with school work all week. Professors, these days! Don’t they understand the need to please the masses with blogs? Oh well, next week will see the return of 5 Questions, so we need not worry about missing two weeks worth of Tuesday blogs. So, without further adu…

• Men’s Soccer continues on their hot streak with three straight shutouts from goalkeeper Sam Reed. He hasn’t done it alone of course, as his defense held Hamline, Bethany Lutheran, and Martin Luther to just nine combined shots on net in the three contests. Freshman Erik Trochimchuk and sophomore Brandon Stemwedel were the offensive stars over the past week, with two goals each in the three games.
• Speaking of soccer stars, junior Greg Doornink was named UMAC Defensive Player of the Week for his part in the pair of conference shutouts over the weekend.
• The Saints women earned a pair of shutout victories over Homecoming weekend as they prepare for an exciting run starting this weekend with games against Minnesota-Morris (Saturday) and Augsburg College (next Wednesday). Senior Angie Groh led the Saints with two goals and three assists on the weekend, and they’ll need that offensive firepower to continue going forward.
• But, even Groh’s scoring prowess was outshined as sophomore Molly Bergmann had her first start in net on Friday afternoon and earned her first collegiate victory and shutout en route to being named UMAC Defensive Player of the Week for women’s soccer.
• After a disappointing Friday evening for Saints volleyball, the women turned it around on Homecoming Saturday and swept their two opponents, Bethany Lutheran and the dreaded Wis.-Superior Yellowjackets. For their part in the weekend, Saints sophomore Nikki Hughes and freshman Sarah Kurtovich were also named UMAC Players of the Week.
• Hughes earned the honor of volleyball’s Defensive Player of the Week with 4.5 digs per set and a .946 receiving percentage. Kurtovich was Setter of the Week with 5.5 assists per set helping the Saints to a .219 attack percentage over the weekend. (And if you understand all of that, my hat’s off to you.)
• And in the biggest game in the short history of Saints football, CSS “brought home the Bacon” (hat tip to the real voice of Saints athletics, Dave Cook) and earned a 22-16 victory over Minnesota-Morris thanks to the late-game heroics of third-string freshman quarterback Matt Bacon. With sophomore starter Jake Olson out for the game with an injury, and sophomore back-up Alex Thiry injured on a two-point conversion try late in the first half, Bacon went 9-13 passing for 120 yards and a rushing touchdown in the second half and helped clinched the Saints’ second victory of the season. Chris Henagin had 156 yards on the ground and a score, while Jonny Bennett had 95 yards and one touchdown receiving. All in all, a great game for the Saints…
• … and in the great injustice of the week, NOBODY earned UMAC Player of the Week honors from the football team. The powers that be at the UMAC must not enjoy cured meat.
• Cross country ran an important race over the weekend, the University of Minnesota’s Griak Invite. Once again, Nick Mangan and Katelyn Meger starred for their respective teams. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record on that one, but they're both excellent runners.
• In coaching news, Chad Salmela, head coach of the Nordic Ski program, has been chosen to once again cover the Winter Olympic Games for NBC. He’ll do some color commentating in Vancouver, and since he did it in 2002 at the Salt Lake games, he can’t be any worse than me. Click here for the full story and here for the Vancouver Games’ official site.
• As for next week’s 5 Questions victim, you’ll just have to wait and see. Oh, the suspense!

That’s all for this week’s P&P. Thanks for reading!

Have a great weekend,
-jh

Points and Prattle, Vol. 3 - Sept. 25, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Happy Friday, sportsfans!

It’s time for an abbreviated edition of Points and Prattle, with a busy day ahead of me, and hopefully, an exciting Homecoming weekend for everyone here at CSS!

• As predicted right here two weeks ago, my days of announcing Saints soccer were not yet over. My career continued with the Saints men’s match against St. Thomas on Wednesday afternoon.
• The men are off to their best start since 1985 – it’s confirmed now, 1985’s team was awesome – in going 5-0-1. They are still unbeaten, but lost their winning streak in the aforementioned tilt against St. Thomas. As I called it on the iFan broadcast, the game was a battle of attrition with neither team allowing any significant scoring chances outside of the two goals scored. Freshman Josh Odukomaya netted his fourth goal of the season for the Saints, a beauty, in that one.
• Speaking of ties, despite a tie last weekend against Northwestern, the Saints women have extended their regular season conference unbeaten streak to 60 consecutive games, dating back to Oct. 12, 2003. For a point of reference, a gallon of gasoline cost less than $1.50 in October 2003. The Saints also ‘stormed’ over Crown 5-0 last weekend, with sophomore keeper Bailey Mahlum earning her third career shutout.
• Despite taking a loss in Superior, football’s Chris Doran was honored as a UMAC Player of the Week for two fumble recoveries, his first collegiate sack, and double-digit tackles in the Saints’ game Saturday vs. Wisconsin Lutheran. Congrats, Chris!
• Cross Country also saw some athletes honored, as sophomore Jimmy Linn ran his personal record of 29:47 to earn UMAC POTW honors while senior Katelyn Meger finished fifth best among NCAA D-3 runners with a season best 23:23 at the St. Olaf Invite. Congrats, runners!
• Last, but certainly not least, volleyball split in their two games in Illinois, following to host Illinois Wesleyan before responding with a sweep of Webster University. Senior Rebecca Udermann led the Saints with 27 kills on the afternoon, while sophomore Nikki Hughes had 41 digs.
• As previously mentioned, it’s Homecoming weekend, so you have your pick of the litter for games: men’s and women’s soccer starting at 2 p.m. today, volleyball at 7 p.m. today, as well as soccer, volleyball, and football tomorrow afternoon. Cross country gets a much-deserved rest to enjoy the festivities, and I am envious.
• If nothing else, my mother is a fan of 5 Questions on VOTS. I continued to ask the tough questions when I sat down with Steve Pfingsten this week. Next week, we’ll try something new, but 5 Questions will return soon.
• Also on the multimedia front, ShoutOuts! received a blast of youth this week as some top student athletes joined their coaches to invite the fans out to the game. If you’re a fan of Angie Groh or Jonny Bennett, then today’s ShoutOuts! are perfect for you. You’ll also find some from earlier in the week on our YouTube channel, now located in the “Follow CSS” section over yonder. >>>

Programming note: I’ll be on the air again this afternoon, starting at 2 p.m. calling the action for the Saints men’s and women’s soccer team taking on Martin Luther College, on the iFan Sports Network. Click here and follow the appropriate links for that. Also, I’ll be writing game recaps for this weekend’s soccer matches if you are a big fan of my writing. Which, of course, you are.

5 Questions ...with Head Cross Country Coach Steve Pfingsten

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Hey sportsfans,

I hope everyone had an excellent weekend. Mine was spent bedridden with an awful cold, which -- despite the concerns of everyone around me -- was not swine flu. Trust me. But I digress. Today's VOTS offering is another rousing rendition of "5 Questions," this week featuring Head Men's & Women's Cross Country Coach, Steve Pfingsten! Steve offered us some great insight on coaching longevity, the difference between male and female athletes, and team success in a largely individual sport. Enjoy!

Have a great Tuesday,
-jh

Points and Prattle, Vol. 2 - Sept. 18, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Another week has come and gone. Time flies when you’re having fun, as well as when you're busy beyond comprehension. Nonetheless, it’s Friday, and Friday means another rousing edition of Points and Prattle here at VOTS, so without further ado:

• My new “show,” 5 Questions has received some excellent reviews, so that should continue here at VOTS next week, provided I get over this awful cold before early next week.
• My thoughts and prayers, this week, are with the family of the late-NCAA president Myles Brand. He was president for just six years, but did a lot in pushing the “student” part of the term “student athlete,” and that’s a good thing.
• In today’s digression of the day, The Office season premiere last night was excellent, as always. Now, if only I had realized It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was on as well…
• Congrats to four Saints on earning UMAC Player of the Week honors this week. In men’s soccer, freshman forward Joshua Odukomaya’s banner day did not go unnoticed as his seven points earned him the Offensive POTW, while sophomore goalkeeper Sam Reed earned himself a shutout and Defensive POTW. Football had senior RB Chris Henagin and his three touchdowns recognized, as sophomore FS Scott Greening’s two interceptions earned him the honor as well.
• On the subject of football, they earned their first road victory in program history, a 33-8 slashing of Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) College, last week, and are now, for the first time ever, .500 on the season. They will look for another first – an above .500 record – on Saturday against Wisconsin Lutheran. The game is a home contest for CSS, but it will be played on Superior’s Ole Haugsrud Field.
• As with last week, the Saints men’s soccer team is off to its best start in years. Now at 3-0-0, they’ve matched their start from 2004. One more victory will give them their best start on record, and it could come today against Northwestern. The Saints were 1-1-1 against the Eagles last season with just two goals scored by each team, so anything could happen in this rivalry.
• Women’s soccer, currently on a two-game skid, takes to the field for UMAC play – where they are undefeated the past six regular seasons – as well this weekend, taking on Northwestern today and Crown tomorrow. The same two teams were on the receiving end of the Saints’ frustration from two straight losses last season, an unenviable position.
• Cross Country was “home” last week… sort of. They ran the Campus Quest VI at Minn.-Duluth, where the women earned third and the men fourth. Senior Katelyn Meger once again impressed, finishing third, while junior Nick Mangan finished fourth on the men’s side, posting a personal best at 27:46.
• Last, but certainly not least, our volleyball team split the weekend with two wins and two losses at Wis.-Superior, including their first three-game sweep of the season over the YellowJackets. Freshman Paige Hardy was again the star of the weekend, with 50 kills in their four games. This young team seems very exciting, and I can’t wait to see them Homecoming weekend. Before that though, they will travel some 500-plus miles to Bloomington, Ill. to take on Illinois Wesleyan and Webster universities.
• On the web front, ShoutOuts!!! wasn’t a one-person show this week, with all five Fall coaches giving us a preview of the weekend. The CSS YouTube channel is filling up with great content already.
• If you don’t have plans Saturday night (after the CSS football game, of course), then camp out with St. Scholastica and the United Way at Night Without a Home. There’s live music, it’s for a good cause, and it’s probably your last nice night to camp out this year, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Well, that’s all I have for you this week. VOTS returns Tuesday with our next 5 Questions segment, featuring Head Men’s and Women’s Cross Country coach, Steve Pfingsten! We’ll talk about longevity in coaching, the difference between men and women student athletes, and maybe what makes a cross country runner tick. Should be fun.

Enjoy your weekends,
-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

Former CSS Cross Country Runner Breaks Record

Courtesy of Kevin Pates of the Duluth News Tribune

Jen Houck, former St. Scholastica cross country won the Park Point 5-mile race on Friday, setting a course record in the process. It was her second straight win in the event.

Houck, 25, and her coach, St. Scholastica Nordic ski coach Chad Salmela, projected a women’s winning time of 28:30, which was dead on. Houck ran 41 seconds faster than 2008 and broke Kari Robertson’s 1997 course record of 28:36. Serena Sullivan, 28, of Hibbing was second in 30:20.

The former St. Scholastica runner also was back in action following the Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon, where she finished 11th in 1:22:08, but wasn’t thrilled with her time.

“Ultimately, I don’t know what my best distance is yet, but I do like longer races,” said Houck, a physical therapist at Villa Maria Health Care Center in Superior. “I’ll run a 10-miler next week, and then my first serious marathon in October at Twin Cities.”

Houck had previously won the Fitger’s 5K in April and the Brian Kraft Memorial 5K in May in Minneapolis.

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