The Piper hockey team ended up losing to #1 St. Norbert last night, 4-0. It was a great run for them, definitely a tough wsy to lose, hopefully their success this year will continue for the next couple of years to push them closer to the Frozen Four.
St. Thomas extended their season last night with a convincing win at Augustana in the Elite 8. The Tommies beat UW-Stevens Point the night before with a game winner by, you guessed it, Tyler Nicolai. I didn't think they could get by the Pointers (terrible nickname in the WIAC, not quite like their neighboring state) but they certainly have a bunch of gritty veteran guys that know how to win.
Now, the MIAC will have at least two representatives down in Salem, VA. Carl Hipp and St. Thomas.
Also, a big congrats to the Williams Ephs for their second consecutive Final Four. They are coached by Mike Maker who I worked with at West Virginia. They open up with with Wooster out of Ohio while St. Thomas takes on Middlebury. Both Williams and Middlebury play in the NESCAC.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Hockey Wins!!!
Our hockey team won their first round game at UW-Superior last night in overtime, 3-2. The game winner was scored by Chris Benenguer, who was just named MIAC Player of the Year.
Yep, that's right, Hamline has 3 of the 4 Players of the Year for winter sports in the MIAC (I don't think Swimming and Diving or Track have that award). Certainly a first for Hamline and maybe a first for the MIAC (could be totally off base on that one).
The Pipers will travel to take on St. Norbert on Saturday for the right to get to the Frozen Four at Ritter Arena on the campus of University of Minnesota. I believe it is where the women Gophers play.
Yep, that's right, Hamline has 3 of the 4 Players of the Year for winter sports in the MIAC (I don't think Swimming and Diving or Track have that award). Certainly a first for Hamline and maybe a first for the MIAC (could be totally off base on that one).
The Pipers will travel to take on St. Norbert on Saturday for the right to get to the Frozen Four at Ritter Arena on the campus of University of Minnesota. I believe it is where the women Gophers play.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Another Player of the Year
Mary Wilkowski of the women's team was just named MIAC Player of the Year for the women's side. On top of being named POY she is also a finalist for the second time for the Jostens Award. The award is given to the as a national player of the year based on athletic ability, academic prowess, and community service. Quite an honor for Mary. Hamline swept the POY for both men's and women's for the first time ever. Great ending to two great careers by Mary and Carl.
The hockey team will play at UW-Superior tonight at 7pm CST. Here is the LINK to the game. The guys already beat the Yellowjackets earlier this year 4-1. The winner will get St. Norbert on Saturday.
The hockey team will play at UW-Superior tonight at 7pm CST. Here is the LINK to the game. The guys already beat the Yellowjackets earlier this year 4-1. The winner will get St. Norbert on Saturday.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
MIAC Hockey Champs
Last night the Hamline Men's Hockey team won it's first postseason championship in a really long time. I'm not really sure if it's their first ever because they won their first regular season championship since 1960 a couple of years ago. They started out the game with a bang with a goal 52 seconds into the game. Two more goals were scored before the end of the period and they were up 3-0 going into the stanza. The final score ended up 5-2. NCAA Tournament starts next week and we'll wait to see who the Pipers will draw.
I actually left the game after the first period to go watch the Carolina-Duke. That was the plan the whole time and I was fortunate enough to see us go up 3-0 before I left. On top of the Pipers winning the championship, the Tar Heels dismantled the Blue Devils to win the ACC regular season title. I'll take it.
St. Thomas won both of their games this weekend against Northwestern and then Illinois Wesleyan to advance to the "Sweet 16." Games will be played at Augustana down in Illinois for the right to advance to the Final Four in Salem, VA. Not sure who the Tommies will play but UW-Stevens Point is also in the bracket. Should be a good one. As much as it pains me to say, I'd like them to do well to help our conference look good.
I actually left the game after the first period to go watch the Carolina-Duke. That was the plan the whole time and I was fortunate enough to see us go up 3-0 before I left. On top of the Pipers winning the championship, the Tar Heels dismantled the Blue Devils to win the ACC regular season title. I'll take it.
St. Thomas won both of their games this weekend against Northwestern and then Illinois Wesleyan to advance to the "Sweet 16." Games will be played at Augustana down in Illinois for the right to advance to the Final Four in Salem, VA. Not sure who the Tommies will play but UW-Stevens Point is also in the bracket. Should be a good one. As much as it pains me to say, I'd like them to do well to help our conference look good.
Friday, March 4, 2011
2010-11 Season in Review
Well now that the season is over and I've been able to cool off a little after ending the season on a tough note, I've decided that I should talk about the season as a whole. After having a successful trip to Greece at the beginning of summer, it definitely opened my eyes on what we were going to be able to do minus the three seniors from the 09-10 season, Nick Carroll, Dan Andersen, and Ray Brown.
We opened up our season with 19 guys on the team with one senior, four juniors, and everyone else sophomores and freshmen. We never really knew what we were going to get. We could have won eight games or 18 games and we could've called it a successful season. There were just too many unanswered questions as the season began. Who was going to be our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th scorer? One thing we did know was that Carl Hipp was going to have a successful senior year. We didn't know how successful but we were definitely expected him to lead us throughout the year.
We opened up our year with a couple of scrimmages and an exhibition game. One thing we found out after those scrimmages was that we could play with some really good teams as well as play down to some average teams. Not exactly what we wanted but good teams are usually dominated by upperclassmen and we had very few.
As the real games started, we found out that we could really grind out games with our defense. Our offense was really struggling at the beginning of the year and our defense was keeping us in games. It certainly didn't help that our first four games were on the road against good opponents. The warm (really warm, sometimes) friendly confines of Hutton Arena was essentially just a practice gym for us.
Our second home game of the year vs. Augsburg seemed to kick start our offense as we scored 102 in an overtime "W." This win not only kicked started our offense, but it gave a bunch of guys confidence to become one of the highest scoring teams in division three basketball. The Augsburg game also showed a lot of our deficiencies on the defensive end, which were continually exposed throughout the rest of the season.
Once the "second" half of the year got going, we put together an 11-3 stretch where our offense was really clicking. We were getting great movement and a lot of penetration on top of getting Carl the ball inside. We showed what we were capable of in many of those games. Our "spurtability" made us a really tough team to play against. We could get a little 7-0 run at any point of the game and get us right back in the game or the put the team away. As time progresses and we get stronger as a whole, those runs will become more frequent and higher scoring.
The direction of the program is headed the way we wanted. As a stated above, we had no idea how many wins we would have, as a player or coach, I think you are always wanting more. If you look at a bunch of games that we lost, they were close ones, and we probably could've won each one of those games by defending a little better, getting a single loose ball, getting another rebound, or making a single free throw. We were right there for a chance at an NCAA tournament bid, we didn't quite make it. That's basketball for you. What do we need to do to get that loose ball, grab that rebound, or make that free throw?
We finished the season at 16-11 and 13-7 in the conference. We made it to the playoffs for the second consecutive year and hosted a playoff game for the first time in over 25 years. Carl was named MVP, the first Hamline player to be named MVP in I don't know how long. Talent level has increased significantly over the past couple of years. Look for it to get even better next season. Next stop, NCAA Tournament.
Thanks for everyone viewing the blog, I had over a 1,000 hits last month. I'll have some more great news about Hamline athletics next week as the news becomes public. This news will definitely bring Hamline Athletics to the forefront of the MIAC. Hopefully, as time goes on this becomes to norm, which I think it will with the great coaching staff we have on the corner of Snelling and Hewitt.
Good luck to our Men's Hockey team tomorrow night as they take on the Concordia Cobbers in the MIAC Championship game at Warner Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds. Here is a LINK to the game if you want to watch.
We opened up our season with 19 guys on the team with one senior, four juniors, and everyone else sophomores and freshmen. We never really knew what we were going to get. We could have won eight games or 18 games and we could've called it a successful season. There were just too many unanswered questions as the season began. Who was going to be our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th scorer? One thing we did know was that Carl Hipp was going to have a successful senior year. We didn't know how successful but we were definitely expected him to lead us throughout the year.
We opened up our year with a couple of scrimmages and an exhibition game. One thing we found out after those scrimmages was that we could play with some really good teams as well as play down to some average teams. Not exactly what we wanted but good teams are usually dominated by upperclassmen and we had very few.
As the real games started, we found out that we could really grind out games with our defense. Our offense was really struggling at the beginning of the year and our defense was keeping us in games. It certainly didn't help that our first four games were on the road against good opponents. The warm (really warm, sometimes) friendly confines of Hutton Arena was essentially just a practice gym for us.
Our second home game of the year vs. Augsburg seemed to kick start our offense as we scored 102 in an overtime "W." This win not only kicked started our offense, but it gave a bunch of guys confidence to become one of the highest scoring teams in division three basketball. The Augsburg game also showed a lot of our deficiencies on the defensive end, which were continually exposed throughout the rest of the season.
Once the "second" half of the year got going, we put together an 11-3 stretch where our offense was really clicking. We were getting great movement and a lot of penetration on top of getting Carl the ball inside. We showed what we were capable of in many of those games. Our "spurtability" made us a really tough team to play against. We could get a little 7-0 run at any point of the game and get us right back in the game or the put the team away. As time progresses and we get stronger as a whole, those runs will become more frequent and higher scoring.
The direction of the program is headed the way we wanted. As a stated above, we had no idea how many wins we would have, as a player or coach, I think you are always wanting more. If you look at a bunch of games that we lost, they were close ones, and we probably could've won each one of those games by defending a little better, getting a single loose ball, getting another rebound, or making a single free throw. We were right there for a chance at an NCAA tournament bid, we didn't quite make it. That's basketball for you. What do we need to do to get that loose ball, grab that rebound, or make that free throw?
We finished the season at 16-11 and 13-7 in the conference. We made it to the playoffs for the second consecutive year and hosted a playoff game for the first time in over 25 years. Carl was named MVP, the first Hamline player to be named MVP in I don't know how long. Talent level has increased significantly over the past couple of years. Look for it to get even better next season. Next stop, NCAA Tournament.
Thanks for everyone viewing the blog, I had over a 1,000 hits last month. I'll have some more great news about Hamline athletics next week as the news becomes public. This news will definitely bring Hamline Athletics to the forefront of the MIAC. Hopefully, as time goes on this becomes to norm, which I think it will with the great coaching staff we have on the corner of Snelling and Hewitt.
Good luck to our Men's Hockey team tomorrow night as they take on the Concordia Cobbers in the MIAC Championship game at Warner Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds. Here is a LINK to the game if you want to watch.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Carl Hipp - He's In!!!!
Thanks for everyone that voted for Carl in the D3Hoops poll. We believe he finished in 2nd place and that secures him a spot on the team. Not sure when the "official" voting results come out but they had the number of votes listed and Carl was clearly in 2nd place. Hopefully, it won't end up like Florida in the presidential elections a few years ago. Here is the LINK officially stating Carl made the game.
I'm going to do a little information session about Carl and his career here at Hamline.
- He played JV basketball as a junior in high school at Totino-Grace
- Wasn't highly recruited outside of Hamline (why, I have no idea, but I'm thankful for it)
- As a freshman, was named All Freshmen Team along with classmate Eric Clute
- As a sophomore, (my 1st year) was named All MIAC Honorable Mention and All Defensive Team
- Played in the Howard Pulley Pro-Am League
- As a junior, named All MIAC, with teammate Ray Brown, and All Defensive Team
- Played in the Howard Pulley Pro-Am League - averaged close to a double-double, team made Championship game, played with Jeremy Sutherland from Carleton, Cameron Rundles and Jamar Diggs from Wofford, and a couple of other very good players
- During summer, traveled to Brazil with an All Star D3 team coached by St. John's assistants Pat McKenzie and Jerry Fogarty
- As a senior, named Joe Hutton MIAC Player of the Year, All MIAC with teammate Mike Campbell, and All Defensive Team
- 1st Hamline player to be named Player of the Year in the conference since ????? (anyone at the MIAC help me out on this one)
- Will probably be named to the All Region Team and is a possible All American - lists haven't come out yet
- 6th all time in scoring, 1st in rebounding, 1st in blocks at Hamline.
That's one heck of a career for Carl. It was a pleasure to coach him for three years. I look forward to working with him this spring and summer on his game as he prepares for a potential career overseas.
I'll have a season in review coming over the next couple of days.
I'm going to do a little information session about Carl and his career here at Hamline.
- He played JV basketball as a junior in high school at Totino-Grace
- Wasn't highly recruited outside of Hamline (why, I have no idea, but I'm thankful for it)
- As a freshman, was named All Freshmen Team along with classmate Eric Clute
- As a sophomore, (my 1st year) was named All MIAC Honorable Mention and All Defensive Team
- Played in the Howard Pulley Pro-Am League
- As a junior, named All MIAC, with teammate Ray Brown, and All Defensive Team
- Played in the Howard Pulley Pro-Am League - averaged close to a double-double, team made Championship game, played with Jeremy Sutherland from Carleton, Cameron Rundles and Jamar Diggs from Wofford, and a couple of other very good players
- During summer, traveled to Brazil with an All Star D3 team coached by St. John's assistants Pat McKenzie and Jerry Fogarty
- As a senior, named Joe Hutton MIAC Player of the Year, All MIAC with teammate Mike Campbell, and All Defensive Team
- 1st Hamline player to be named Player of the Year in the conference since ????? (anyone at the MIAC help me out on this one)
- Will probably be named to the All Region Team and is a possible All American - lists haven't come out yet
- 6th all time in scoring, 1st in rebounding, 1st in blocks at Hamline.
That's one heck of a career for Carl. It was a pleasure to coach him for three years. I look forward to working with him this spring and summer on his game as he prepares for a potential career overseas.
I'll have a season in review coming over the next couple of days.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Vote Carl Hipp for D3 All Star Game
Go HERE and vote for Carl Hipp for the D3Hoops All Star game held during Final Four weekend down in Salem, VA. Voting just started and we want to get him down to Salem.
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