University of St. Thomas Athletics
Photo by: Liam Doyle
Gene's Blog: Women's Soccer debut here Aug. 8 will make history
8/4/2022 1:38:00 PM | Women's Soccer, Gene's Blog
St. Thomas Women's Soccer gets its first taste of outside competition next Monday when it plays host to the Minnesota Gophers in a 5 p.m. scrimmage at South Field.
The state's only Division I universities for all sports, Minnesota and St. Thomas played a mid-August exhibition contest last summer at the U of M stadium in Falcon Heights. U of M led 1-0 through 40 minutes and went on to score a 6-0 victory.
For next Monday's game, there's no admission charge, but fans coming to campus should be aware of construction issues on the south campus (click here for directions).
Coach Sheila McGill's Tommies will play two home exhibition games next week: Monday's test plus an 11 a.m. contest Thursday Aug. 11 vs. St. Cloud State.
St. Thomas is scheduled to play its first five regular-season games at home, too, starting Aug. 18 against UW-Green Bay.
Minnesota went 8-6-3 last season. The 2022 Gophers have nine graduate students or senior eligible players and five juniors leading a 24-player roster. The Tommies posted a 4-12-1 record in their first season of Division I play in 2021. This year's Toms have seven juniors and seniors on a young 30-player roster.
One for the Record Books
History is expected to be made next Monday on as many as three fronts.
First, it's the earliest competition day (Aug. 8) on the fall calendar for any St. Thomas team in school history.
Second, the Tommies' South Field stadium record for soccer attendance -- 430, set last season vs. Northern Iowa -- could be erased with Minnesota on hand. Last year's Tommie-Gopher exhibition game in Falcon Heights drew an announced crowd of 768 on a Saturday night.
Third, next Monday's game also marks the first time a Minnesota Gopher women's varsity team will play a Tommie team on St. Thomas' campus. A similar case happened on the men's side just once, back in 1918, during a pandemic and Spanish Flu outbreak, when the city of Minneapolis put a quarantine in place. A Tommie vs. Gopher game on the U of M campus that fall was moved to St. Paul and the current site of O'Shaughnessy Stadium to get around the quarantine issue.
Gopher Track and Field once used St. Thomas' facility for a home invitational meet when its track facility was under construction, and some of Minnesota's athletes competed here each year for indoor and outdoor meets.
Gopher Softball did move a three-game home Big Ten series against Illinois in March 2014 to St. Thomas' South Field turf due to snow and wet fields at its U of M stadium.
During the construction of the Gophers' on-campus football stadium, Minnesota held its April 2009 spring football game at St. Thomas' O'Shaughnessy Stadium, attracting a crowd of 7,000 plus. Minnesota was transitioning from playing home contests in the Metrodome to outdoor games, so Coach Tim Brewster wanted to prepare his players for outdoor football.
Last winter, Tommie Women's Hockey played six games against fellow WCHA member Minnesota, including two on the Purple's home ice, off campus in Mendota Heights.
Dee-Fense
Under McGill, Tommie Women's Soccer has built a reputation for strong defense.
The last five seasons competing in Division III, from 2016-2020, the Purple surrendered just 37 goals over 92 games. They compiled an overall won-loss record of 71-11-10 over that span.
Last year's St. Thomas team allowed 25 goals over 17 games, respectable given the jump in competition to D-I. Thirteen of those goals allowed came in losses to Marquette, South Dakota, South Dakota State and Idaho, four teams that averaged 12 wins apiece.
I Know That Name!
The "28" tradition continues at St. Thomas for the Trettel siblings.
Tucker Trettel wore jersey No. 28 for Tommie Football during a successful career from 2015-18. An all-conference running back, Tucker played just two games as a senior in 2018 due to injury, yet he still compiled 2,264 rushing yards and scored 32 touchdowns on his career. He was part of the 2015 NCAA runner-up team as a freshman and helped the Purple win three MIAC team titles and reach three NCAA playoffs.
Tessa Trettel wore jersey No. 28 for Tommie Women's Soccer during her successful career from 2017-20. Despite playing in just five games as a senior in the Covid-shortened season of 2020-21, Tessa closed with three goals and four assists on her career and made All-MIAC and all-region. She helped the Toms reach three NCAA playoffs and win four of the six conference titles in the regular season or playoffs.
This fall, freshman Tatum Trettel has been assigned jersey No. 28 for Tommie Women's Soccer. The Centennial High graduate will become the fifth family member to play college athletics and fourth to compete at St. Thomas. Tatum is sidelined by an injury and is being held out of competition for at least the first half of this season.
Mom Paula played college tennis at St. Cloud State, and dad Gary is a St. Thomas Athletic Hall of Famer after an All-America career with the Tommies. Gary, who wore jersey No. 42 in his Tommie days, scored a school-record 45 touchdowns over his three seasons and helped his team to an NCAA playoff berth as a senior.
Academics Shine
McGill's team consistently shines in the classroom. The Tommies' 18 returning women's players have an average grade-point average of 3.78, including nine at 3.90 or better.
The state's only Division I universities for all sports, Minnesota and St. Thomas played a mid-August exhibition contest last summer at the U of M stadium in Falcon Heights. U of M led 1-0 through 40 minutes and went on to score a 6-0 victory.
For next Monday's game, there's no admission charge, but fans coming to campus should be aware of construction issues on the south campus (click here for directions).
Coach Sheila McGill's Tommies will play two home exhibition games next week: Monday's test plus an 11 a.m. contest Thursday Aug. 11 vs. St. Cloud State.
St. Thomas is scheduled to play its first five regular-season games at home, too, starting Aug. 18 against UW-Green Bay.
Minnesota went 8-6-3 last season. The 2022 Gophers have nine graduate students or senior eligible players and five juniors leading a 24-player roster. The Tommies posted a 4-12-1 record in their first season of Division I play in 2021. This year's Toms have seven juniors and seniors on a young 30-player roster.
One for the Record Books
History is expected to be made next Monday on as many as three fronts.
First, it's the earliest competition day (Aug. 8) on the fall calendar for any St. Thomas team in school history.
Second, the Tommies' South Field stadium record for soccer attendance -- 430, set last season vs. Northern Iowa -- could be erased with Minnesota on hand. Last year's Tommie-Gopher exhibition game in Falcon Heights drew an announced crowd of 768 on a Saturday night.
Third, next Monday's game also marks the first time a Minnesota Gopher women's varsity team will play a Tommie team on St. Thomas' campus. A similar case happened on the men's side just once, back in 1918, during a pandemic and Spanish Flu outbreak, when the city of Minneapolis put a quarantine in place. A Tommie vs. Gopher game on the U of M campus that fall was moved to St. Paul and the current site of O'Shaughnessy Stadium to get around the quarantine issue.
Gopher Track and Field once used St. Thomas' facility for a home invitational meet when its track facility was under construction, and some of Minnesota's athletes competed here each year for indoor and outdoor meets.
Gopher Softball did move a three-game home Big Ten series against Illinois in March 2014 to St. Thomas' South Field turf due to snow and wet fields at its U of M stadium.
During the construction of the Gophers' on-campus football stadium, Minnesota held its April 2009 spring football game at St. Thomas' O'Shaughnessy Stadium, attracting a crowd of 7,000 plus. Minnesota was transitioning from playing home contests in the Metrodome to outdoor games, so Coach Tim Brewster wanted to prepare his players for outdoor football.
Last winter, Tommie Women's Hockey played six games against fellow WCHA member Minnesota, including two on the Purple's home ice, off campus in Mendota Heights.
Dee-Fense
Under McGill, Tommie Women's Soccer has built a reputation for strong defense.
The last five seasons competing in Division III, from 2016-2020, the Purple surrendered just 37 goals over 92 games. They compiled an overall won-loss record of 71-11-10 over that span.
Last year's St. Thomas team allowed 25 goals over 17 games, respectable given the jump in competition to D-I. Thirteen of those goals allowed came in losses to Marquette, South Dakota, South Dakota State and Idaho, four teams that averaged 12 wins apiece.
I Know That Name!
The "28" tradition continues at St. Thomas for the Trettel siblings.
Tucker Trettel wore jersey No. 28 for Tommie Football during a successful career from 2015-18. An all-conference running back, Tucker played just two games as a senior in 2018 due to injury, yet he still compiled 2,264 rushing yards and scored 32 touchdowns on his career. He was part of the 2015 NCAA runner-up team as a freshman and helped the Purple win three MIAC team titles and reach three NCAA playoffs.
Tessa Trettel wore jersey No. 28 for Tommie Women's Soccer during her successful career from 2017-20. Despite playing in just five games as a senior in the Covid-shortened season of 2020-21, Tessa closed with three goals and four assists on her career and made All-MIAC and all-region. She helped the Toms reach three NCAA playoffs and win four of the six conference titles in the regular season or playoffs.
This fall, freshman Tatum Trettel has been assigned jersey No. 28 for Tommie Women's Soccer. The Centennial High graduate will become the fifth family member to play college athletics and fourth to compete at St. Thomas. Tatum is sidelined by an injury and is being held out of competition for at least the first half of this season.
Mom Paula played college tennis at St. Cloud State, and dad Gary is a St. Thomas Athletic Hall of Famer after an All-America career with the Tommies. Gary, who wore jersey No. 42 in his Tommie days, scored a school-record 45 touchdowns over his three seasons and helped his team to an NCAA playoff berth as a senior.
Academics Shine
McGill's team consistently shines in the classroom. The Tommies' 18 returning women's players have an average grade-point average of 3.78, including nine at 3.90 or better.
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Gene's Blog is a sports column penned by Tommie sports information director Gene McGivern. Gene is starting his 29th season at St. Thomas and 35th overall working with college athletics teams. He blogs periodically on various topics regarding the Tommies and college sports.
If you have comments or questions, e-mail Gene at ejmcgivern@stthomas.edu
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