The No. 1 St. Thomas women’s hockey team will compete against the No. 5 Hamline Pipers in the MIAC championship Saturday at St. Thomas Ice Arena.

With a win tonight, the Tommies (16-1-2 MIAC, 23-1-2 overall) can claim MIAC championship and are guaranteed a bid into the NCAA tournament. Their opponent, the Pipers (14-2-2 MIAC, 21-2-3 overall) are the only team to defeat the Tommies this season.

“Offense versus defense is the match up. They’re kind of a high flying team and we kind of keep it close to the best,” said coach Tom Palkowski. “The girls are going to be fired up on both ends.”

Tommies’ senior goalie Kenzie Torpy the MIAC Player of the Year award after leading the MIAC with 22 goals scored against her, 11 shutouts, and 23 wins. She was tied for most shutouts in all of NCAA hockey and is the first goalie to ever win the award, but has attributed her success to hard work and her teammates.

“This year, more than other years, I feel more confident and composed in the net, which I think has played a big role in it. We also have strong defense. That’s what we focused on all year, our d-zone. All three of our captains are defensemen,” said Torpy.

Although the Tommies are ranked No. 1 nationally, MIAC Coach of the Year Tom Palkowski has kept the team focused.

“We really haven’t talked about that aspect, we are really focused on trying to win the MIAC,” said Palkowski. “Winning the MIAC title and beating Hamline is a big thing for the girls.”

The Tommies finished second in the MIAC in goals, assists and goals-per-game. They also lead the conference in goals against and save percentage, thanks to Torpy.

Forward Rachel Werdin, who tallied two assists and a goal within the last two games against Hamline, knows how important it is for her line to work together.

“My line has honestly just been wheeling,” Werdin said. ”It’s been me, Alyssa (Wallace) and (Maddy) Fiedler. We have been all skating together and we’ve been able to put the puck into the back of the net. We can’t complain when pucks are going in. I’m hoping for the same success.”

Hamline Pipers forward Bre Simon leads her team and the conference with 25 goals and 34 assists. Forward Leah Schwartzman has 19 goals and 24 assists. The Pipers lead the MIAC with 82 goals, 126 assists, and 21 short-handed-goals.

“They are definitely going to create, but the key in hockey is to keep them to the outside, not let them get to the net. If we can do that we’ll give ourselves a good chance,” said Palkowski. “We just know we need to play the best we can. If you do that you don’t have any regrets.”

The selection show for the NCAA championships will take place March 4.

Brennan Campbell can be reached at camp3460@stthomas.edu.