If UST is offering full scholarships, there could be a lot of movement in the 2021-22 class (maybe even some 2020) - they will need to get a competitive D1 team together very quickly. Luck of the birth year for that age group! As far as the Ivy League degree being 'over-rated', it all depends on what people look for. You have a chance to meet future presidents, supreme court justices, etc., and that is 'worth it' to a lot of people. If you plan to work in government or want to go to a top grad/law/business school, the Ivy degree will give you an edge. Not for everyone, and the lack of scholarships cuts out a lot of families (even with their supposedly need-based financial aid..). It all boils down to what the player wants.
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WCHA Conference: The 2019-20 Season
- Thread starter D2D
- Start date
Brutus Buckice
New member
What can we expect out of St Thomas? How do they stack up at the D3 level? Which WCHA team will be the first to lose to them? How long will it take them to get to North Dakota's level when they had a team?
What can we expect out of St Thomas? How do they stack up at the D3 level? Which WCHA team will be the first to lose to them? How long will it take them to get to North Dakota's level when they had a team?
At the DIII level they are the powers of the west along with UW-River Falls, Adrian and Gustavus Adolphus. Hamline has been putting themselves in that class since their AD cared enough to bring in Natalie Darwitz. The Tommies have been perennial contenders for the NCAA Championship since 2013-14, including being the number one team in DIII for most of 2018-19 and hosting the NCAA semifinals/final only to have their star goalie tear her ACL in practice before the semis.
The only NCAA DIII tourney the Tommies missed since 2014 was 2018, when they self imposed a ban for an alcohol incident during the 2017 tourney. And they were tied for the 1 seed in their conference that year.
At the DIII level they are the powers of the west along with UW-River Falls, Adrian and Gustavus Adolphus. Hamline has been putting themselves in that class since their AD cared enough to bring in Natalie Darwitz. The Tommies have been perennial contenders for the NCAA Championship since 2013-14, including being the number one team in DIII for most of 2018-19 and hosting the NCAA semifinals/final only to have their star goalie tear her ACL in practice before the semis.
The only NCAA DIII tourney the Tommies missed since 2014 was 2018, when they self imposed a ban for an alcohol incident during the 2017 tourney. And they were tied for the 1 seed in their conference that year.
They are very good for DIII, but if you put them against the D1 players, they are slow and generally weaker. They'd be hard pressed to win in the WCHA. The coaching is very good, and as is documented above, they are successful in their system. Defensively sound, offensively challenged. If you put an all-star team of players from the MIAC together, they would still lose most of the time, but they wouldn't get blown out much.
This comes up every now and then - the basic answer is there is not enough true D1 talent in women's hockey as it is to go around the existing programs and so any D3 program, no matter how strong at the D3 level, would not compete with any D1 school (yes, that includes the struggling programs as well). The difference between a scholarship / ivy education vrs what D3 schools can offer (with the exception of a couple of NESCAC schools for the right student) is huge. UST will need to upgrade quickly for the 2021-22 year if they want to compete. This is unlike the men, where you can argue there is more talent than D1 programs available and hence why schools like Union and Yale can win a national title while on the women's side they can't seem to break out of the bottom third of D1 programs.
They are very good for DIII, but if you put them against the D1 players, they are slow and generally weaker. They'd be hard pressed to win in the WCHA. The coaching is very good, and as is documented above, they are successful in their system. Defensively sound, offensively challenged. If you put an all-star team of players from the MIAC together, they would still lose most of the time, but they wouldn't get blown out much.
As both you and Cornholio pointed out, St. Thomas and for that matter any DIII program would not be able to stand up to a DI team. We saw that with the aforementioned Hamline-Minnesota exhibition.
I think the relevance of St. Thomas' standing as a DIII program is that they put the resources into women's hockey to be one of the best in the division. Granted, it takes a whole different level of having resources to compete at DI, but if St. Thomas can gather those resources and remain as committed as they are now to women's hockey as a DI institution, I think they can be competitive within a few recruiting cycles.
As both you and Cornholio pointed out, St. Thomas and for that matter any DIII program would not be able to stand up to a DI team. We saw that with the aforementioned Hamline-Minnesota exhibition.
I think the relevance of St. Thomas' standing as a DIII program is that they put the resources into women's hockey to be one of the best in the division. Granted, it takes a whole different level of having resources to compete at DI, but if St. Thomas can gather those resources and remain as committed as they are now to women's hockey as a DI institution, I think they can be competitive within a few recruiting cycles.
Oh I agree.
If they are doing scholarships, they will get plenty of the best Minnesota talent. UST is a completely different college experience than U of M, or Duluth and different in another way from Bemidji, Mankato or St. Cloud. They will likely be upgrading already decent athletes' facilities but will likely never approach the type of athlete's village that the U of M or other Big Ten schools. But the campus is great, the school itself is good, it's like an Ivy League school (except in academics, of course), it's different than the huge, mostly faceless, U of M, that has appeal.
The coaching staff is already good enough. This is the sport I forsee UST having the most success at the earliest.