BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Women's hockey in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) appears as competitive as ever, with four different teams receiving first-place votes in the annual Preseason Coaches' Poll, released on Wednesday.
St. Catherine received 25 points in the balloting for eighth place in the Poll. A second-half resurgence kept the Wildcats in the playoff hunt late last season. Senior Tori Thompson was the top scoring defender in the MIAC last year, leading St. Kate's with 16 points thanks to 13 assists and three goals. She received All-Conference recognition for the second year in a row as a result.
Thirteen other returners are joining Thompson on this year's roster with six new faces in Wildcat sweaters including two new goalies between the pipes.
Another new face on the Wildcat bench is assistant coach Tyler Seidel. Seidel also serves as assistant soccer coach at St. Kate's and played collegiate hockey at the University of St. Thomas and soccer at Augsburg University.
The team opens their season this Saturday as they travel to Marshfield, Wis. to play Finlandia University at 3 p.m. St. Kate's finished the 2017-18 season 6-18-1 and 5-12-1 in the MIAC.
The Wildcats open the home season next Friday at Drake Arena against Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) University of Wisconsin-Superior at 7:30 p.m. St. Kate's will turn around Saturday and travel to Superior, Wisconsin to take on the Yellowjackets at Wessman Arena for a 2 p.m. game.
Complete 2018 Preseason Coaches' Poll
Coaches voted for every team in the conference except their own team. Points were assigned for each vote (9 for first, 8 for second, etc.) Teams are ranked in order of highest point total to lowest with vote totals listed and first-place votes shown in parentheses.
| 2018-19 MIAC Women's Hockey Preseason Coaches' Poll |
| Rank |
Institution (First-Place Votes) |
Total |
| T1. |
Gustavus (3) |
72 |
| T1. |
St. Thomas (2) |
72 |
| 3. |
Hamline (3) |
70 |
| 4. |
Augsburg (1) |
61 |
| 5. |
Concordia |
43 |
| 6. |
Bethel |
42 |
| 7. |
Saint Mary's |
37 |
| 8. |
St. Catherine |
25 |
| 9. |
St. Olaf |
16 |
| 10. |
Saint Benedict |
12 |
2019 MIAC Women's Hockey Playoffs
The 2019 MIAC Women's Hockey Playoffs will feature the top five teams in the Conference standings playing in a high-seed-host, single-elimination postseason tournament. The lone quarterfinal game between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds will now be played Thursday, Feb. 21, with the two semifinal games to follow on Saturday, Feb. 23. The MIAC Championship game is set for the following Saturday, March 2. The winner will receive the MIAC's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Hockey Tournament.
MIAC Release
