University of St. Thomas Athletics
Throwback Thursday: In year 3, Final 4 run for '87 W. Soccer
5/13/2020 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
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In just its third varsity season, Coach Joe Kryschyshen did somehing practically unheard of among all MIAC sports teams.
He guided 1987 Tommie Women's Soccer not only to its first MIAC championship, but a berth in the national semifinal round of the playoffs.
That was St. Thomas' lone soccer championship over the program's first 16 seasons, from 1985 through 2000.
The Tommies have claimed a league-best seven solo or shared MIAC championships in the regular season since 2001.
They won two games that fall against defending conference champ St. Mary's en route to a 11-3-1 finish. That Purple team started a run of three consecutive NCAA playoff berths for the program from 1987 through 1989.
Four Tommies made the 18-player all-conference team: Juniors Patrice Detlie (goalkeeper) and Jane Sandvik (forward), and sophomores Laure Schingen (midfielder) and Angie Stewart (defender). The Final Four all-tournament team included Detlie, Sandvik and Schingen.
Senior leaders were Barb Ganzer, Ellen Wise and Kim Penny.
Detlie, who also played softball, and Sandvik were inducted into the St. Thomas Athletics Hall of Fame in the 1998 class.
Kryschyshen built a 111-69-9 record in 11 seasons as head coach from 1985-95.
Below are some Aquin newspaper stories from that accomplished season:
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Women net first conference title
By Caroline Doyle / Aquin Newspaper
It was all or nothing for the St. Thomas women's soccer team last Saturday, and they took it all.
In only their third year as a varsity squad, the Tommies won the MIAC conference title by defeating Macalester 1-0. It was fitting that it was won on a day designated to honor the seniors, who have been with the program since it was a junior varsity team.
Senior captain Barb Ganzer said, "It's beyond our wildest dreams, but yet we're here."
The three seniors, Ganzer, Ellen Wise and Kim Penny, played almost the entire game and were given roses. The game was an important one. A tie would have tied the Tommies with St. Mary's for the title. A loss would have put them back in second place behind St. Mary's, where they have ended up for the past two years.
"In this kind of game all you have to do is win," said head coach Joe Kryschyshen. And win they did.
It wasn't the best game of the season for the Toms, "but the important thing is that we won," Kryschyshen said.
Patrice Detlie, CST's goalie, has posted four straight shut-outs. She said that winning the conference title "is just great. It's been a long time in waiting."
Detlie added that the last three years have brought a lot of improvement. "We don't rely so much on defense. We have a lot of talent and ability."
The talent showed on the lone goal of the game. In the first half, freshman Sarah McCain scored off a pass from sophomore Angie Stewart. The rest of the game was a defensive battle.
"We just stuck in there," Kryschyshen said.
Now the team heads for regionals tomorrow. "At that level everyone has to give plus 100 percent. Every game is do or die," Kryschyshen said. The team is working on consistency during practices for regionals.
A regional title would lead to a berth in the national competition.
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Toms host regionals
O'Shaughnessy Stadium will be the site of this Saturday's NCAA Division III Western Regional Women's soccer tournament.
Fresh off their first conference title, the St. Thomas women's soccer team will start the tournament at 1 p.m. against conference rival St. Mary's. The winner of tomorrow's matchup will go on to face the University of California-San Diego Sunday for the Western Regional championship. Sunday's championship game will also start at 1 p.m.
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Herons stop Tommies' title bid
By Caroline Doyle / Aquin Newspaper
Four years ago the St. Thomas women's soccer team was a club that had to scramble to find opponents. But all that has changed now. In only their third year as a varsity squad, the Toms took the MIAC and Western Regional titles and were semifinalists in the Division III National Championship last weekend.
But a dream of a national title was stolen away by William Smith College (New York) in the semifinal round of the national tournament.
The game was scoreless until two minutes into the first of two 15-minute overtimes. The Herons scored off a corner kick that was aided by the wind. The Tommies had many chances in the first half of regulation, but none went in. Junior Sue Muchlinski had a lone break but was taken down by the goalie as her shot stopped an inch short of the goal line. Before Muchlinski could get up, Heron defenders had cleared the ball. With two minutes left in the second overtime, Jane Sandvik pulled the goalie out of the net. Before Sandvik could make the shot that would have most likely tied the game, she was fouled. Kim Penry attempted the penalty shot but was stopped short by the goalie, who also stopped Penry's rebound attempt. It was a close game, but in the end it was William Smith that won and went on to the finals to be defeated by the University of Rochester (New York) 1-0.
Getting to nationals was a feat for the Tommies. Their goal at the beginning of the season was to get as far as they possibly could, which they thought meant a conference title and a berth in the region.
"This was beyond my wildest dreams," said Kim Penry, a senior.
Freshman Jodie Stewart netted both goals in St. Thomas' win over conference rival St. Mary's. The Toms beat St. Mary's earlier in the year for the first time ever, and did it a second time, 2-1, in the first round of the regions at St. Thomas.
The Tommies then took on the region favorite from San Diego which was seeded fourth in the nation. After a tough game Nov. 7 the Toms headed into the field the following day tired but motivated, and wanting the win. Nine minutes into the game Jane Sandvik put a long shot into the net to post the only goal of the game. "The difference was that we wanted it so bad," Sandvik said after the game. "Every time we went in we'd be up and (San Diego) would be flat. You could feel the momentum of our team."
The weather during the game was cold and windy, but head coach Brian McManus of UC-San Diego said, "There're no excuses, (St. Thomas) is a good team. We made a mistake in the first nine minutes, and we couldn't get it back." The closeness of the Tommie team has also been credited for their playing this year. "We play together, party together and pray together," said sophomore Laure Schingen.
The team had two prayer services before and during the regionals. Kryschyshen said the time together brought the team closer.
"We had some fun and said some prayers," Coach Joe Kryschyshen said.
The Toms may not have come home with a national title, but they came home with much deserved respect and three all-tournament players. Patrice Detlie was named all-tournament goalie. Jane Sandvik was named to the team as a forward, and Laure Schingen at midfield.
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By Caroline Doyle / Aquin Newspaper
An exhaustively happy Laure Schingen accepted congratulations from fans after a big soccer win over St. Mary's on Sept. 30.
The sophomore midfielder played the entire game, earning an assist and much praise from onlookers. The congratulations went on for some time. A former coach stopped by, telling her it's the best he'd ever seen her play. Several football and men's soccer players stopped by after the game to tell her how well she played. A St. Mary's player even wandered over to congratulate her. Schingen smiled and thanked the fans. Schingen tried to put into words what soccer means to her.
"It's definitely a big part of my life. It's something that I absolutely love, and I love to share it with my teammates." It's a long history of playing soccer that has given Schingen the experience needed to be such a good player. As a freshman, Schingen was voted the team co-MVP and named to the MIAC all-conference team.
Schingen began playing soccer 14 years ago, when she was in first grade. "They passed around slips in class for soccer, and I signed up. I was the only girl who did."
Her love for soccer began immediately, but because of a lack of girls' teams in her hometown, Green Bay, Schingen played on boys' teams until she was 16. Instead of playing high school soccer, Schingen played on club teams during the summer. Her passion for the game had an impact on her college choice.
"I had two feet in the door at Madison, but it was too big. I loved St. Thomas' campus. The idea of a young soccer team just starling out also made me want to come here," Schingen said.
After a successful first season at St. Thomas, Schingen tried out for the under-19 Wisconsin Select team. She made the team that consisted of the top 18 players in Wisconsin. Last summer the team attended a regional camp that included select teams from 12 states in the Midwest. It was at the select camp that Schingen was chosen, along with 17 other girls, to represent the region at the national camp. The national camp is where Team USA is chosen, and the Olympic team is chosen later from there. Schingen was not chosen for Team USA, but said it was at the camp where she learned the most.
"I also learned that I have a lot more to learn," Schingen said. Schingen said the camp was fun, and the most exciting part about it was "being able to play with some of the top girls in the nation." But the iummer soccer didn't end here for Schingen. She went on to play on the Minnesota Select 20 and over team. At 19, her playing abilities were strong enough to earn her a place on the team. Schingen was named to a top 30 player's list at the women's select camp. When the cut was made to 18 players for the national team, Schingen was not chosen.
"Being chosen (for the top 30) surprised me. I wasn't disappointed at all about being cut later. Now I have one more thing to work for next year," said the sophomore.
Now, back at St. Thomas, Schingen is having a good season. She has four goals and several assists. She has changed positions this season, moving from forward to midfield.
"I'm not disappointed that I switched at all. I love it. It's less shooting, but more running and passing." Schingen is a hard worker on the field but describes herself as being laid back. To get psyched up for a game she said, "I think of myself doing things right." For the game against St. Mary's, Schingen said, "I live with soccer players. We were psyched all day — we fired each other up."
Schingen likes the fact that soccer is a team sport. She said, "I'd rather make an assist or a good pass, so someone else can score." She shows this on the field with her strong passing ability, and her many assists.
This winter Schingen is going for her coaching license. Next summer, in addition to playing, Schingen will be an assistant coach for the under-16 Minnesota Select team.
