Program Outlook

St. Thomas has emerged as a conference and national power in women’s ice hockey. The Toms are 116-40-7 over the last six seasons (94-21-5 vs. conference foes), and have been regularly ranked in the top 10 nationally.

The Toms have made the conference playoff finals six years in a row and in those title games have a win and five one-goal defeats.

Coach Kevin Gorg saw his 2002-03 team break through to win the MIAC regular-season and playoff championship in UST’s fifth season of varsity women’s hockey. The Tommies qualified for the seven-team NCAA playoffs for the first time, finished 19-7-2, and won the conference playoff crown on neutral ice with a 1-0 victory over St. Mary's and a 4-1 victory over Gustavus. They ended their season with a 5-1 loss at Wisconsin-River Falls in the national quarterfinals and tied for fifth place in the nation.

St. Thomas came back to win the MIAC title again in 2003-04 and finished 19-6-2 with a 16-1-1 conference record. In 2004-05, UST had a school-record 21 wins including another 16-1-1 MIAC mark, but lost a two-overtime game in the conference finals to miss an NCAA playoff berth. They put up another 21-5-1 record in 2005-06 and lost another overtime game for a berth in the NCAA playoffs.

In 2007-08 under first-year Coach Tom Palkowski, the Toms broke a school record for victories and finished 21-6. Sophomore goalie Lauren Bradel made All-America.

St. Thomas fielded a club hockey team with St. Catherine in 1997-98. The Tommies went varsity in 1998-99, and after an 0-8 start in which they were outscored 63-6, that team finished 8-12. UST followed with records of 10-11-1, 16-9-1 and 14-9-3 in seasons two through four, setting the stage for the recent success.

Tomery Stolz graduated in May 2004 and is the school's career scoring leader and No. 3 all-time MIAC scorer with 154 points in 105 games. Goalie Becky Kilpatrick made All-America two years in a row from 2003-05. Tanaya Reitz made All-America in 2005-06.

The Tommies played their first five seasons at Parade Ice Garden in Minneapolis. They moved into a new practice and game facility in November 2003 -- the 1,000-seat Saint Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights. The St. Thomas men's and women's teams and the Saint Thomas Academy boys' team share the $4 million, state-of-the-art arena, which includes separate locker rooms, a weight training room and shooting stations. The Tommies are 48-11-2 on their new home ice, including a 2-0 loss to eventual NCAA champion Middlebury in January 2005.

The Tommies travel every other season to the East Coast, and also play the best Minnesota and Wisconsin teams. They keep approximately 26 players on the varsity roster.