Men’s hockey is 2-0 on the season
Center Alex Altenbernd’s four-point weekend helped the St. Thomas men’s hockey team start off its season with a 2-0 record, defeating both Bethel and Gustavus.
St. Thomas beat Bethel 3-2 Saturday, with forward Connor McBride scoring his second goal of the game 1:18 into overtime.
The Tommies outshot the Royals 46-18; however, they didn’t lead the game until McBride scored his game-winning shot in overtime.
For coach Jeff Boeser, McBride’s goal exemplified the team’s ability to close.
“It was nice to see that we were able to pull it out in overtime because I think we outplayed them,” Boeser said. “They probably a little bit ran out of gas, and their goaltender kept them in the game. They’re a good hockey team; they just got a little tired there.”
On Sunday, the Tommies defeated Gustavus 5-3. Forwards Altenbernd, Nick Nielsen, Chris Cass, Tyler Gubb and Thomas Williams scored for the Tommies.
Boeser said having five different scorers Sunday was a good example of the team’s offensive strength.
“It’s refreshing to see that we’re getting goals scored from different players,” Boeser said. “I like our team; we just have to keep getting better each day.”
Football maintains No.-18 ranking
The St. Thomas football team remains No. 18 in this week’s D3football.com poll Monday after defeating Augsburg 17-14 Saturday in Minneapolis.
Conference leader Bethel (8-0 overall, 6-0 MIAC) kept its No. 5 ranking. St. John’s (6-2 overall, 4-2 overall) is no longer ranked in the top 25 after losing 23-20 to Gustavus Saturday.
St. Thomas (6-2 overall, 4-2 MIAC) hosts Concordia-Moorhead (7-1 overall, 5-1 MIAC) Saturday.
Men’s and women’s swim and dive teams take first
Michael Lanz set a pool record in the 200 fly, leading the men’s swim and dive team to a first place finish out of four teams at the St. Mary’s Invite Saturday.
The men won all 16 events, putting them first out of four teams. The Tommies earned 980 points ahead of runner-up Gustavus’ 645.
On the women’s side, Courtney Grunewald set two pool records in the 100 and 200 fly, propelling the women to first place out of six teams.
The Tommie women scored 796 points with wins in 12 events to beat Gustavus by 96 points.
Men’s soccer win season’s final game
Midfielder Mark Smith led the St. Thomas men’s soccer team to a 3-1 victory Saturday over Augsburg with two goals in its final game of the season.
Smith scored both of his goals in the first half of the game, and forward Nick Rapisarda added two assists. Forward Ryan Bernhardt’s goal in the 70th minute gave the Tommies a 3-0 advantage over the Auggies.
Auggie midfielder Ben Henry retaliated in the 75th minute with a goal to finish the game 3-1. St. Thomas edged out Augsburg with six shots on goal to the Auggies’ five. St. Thomas and Augsburg split fifth place in the MIAC.
The Tommies finished their season with a 10-4-4 overall record and a 4-3-3 MIAC record.
Men’s cross country takes third in MIAC Championship
Keaton Wendroth’s 17th-place finish helped the men’s cross country team place third in the MIAC Championships Saturday,
Fifteen of St. Thomas’ runners placed in the top 71 out of a total 230 finishers.
Wendroth led the Tommies with a time of 26:02, followed by Jacob Gerhartz in 19th (26:14) and junior Ben Rascher in 22nd (26:27).
Six of the St. Olaf runners finished in the top 10 to take home the team championship. Carleton placed second.
St. Thomas will compete on Nov. 16 in the NCAA regional race at St. Olaf.
Women’s cross country runner places in top 10
Megan Terukina placed 10th in a field of 245 runners and earned all-MIAC honors to lead the St. Thomas women’s cross country team to a seventh place finish at Saturday’s MIAC championships.
St. Thomas had 10 freshmen and sophomore runners in the top 85. Terukina finished at 23:21, followed by Kate Mares, who took 40th (24:06), and Bridget McGivern, who finished 49th (24:22).
The women’s team has three runners who are training through injuries, and are competing without top-five runner Victoria Simones, and All-America Erin Statz, both of whom are recovering from injuries.
The Tommies will compete in the NCAA regional meet at St. Olaf on Nov. 16.