Playoff-bound Pipers earn all-conference honors

Marie Gross (Sr., West St. Paul, Minn.) and Kate Raasch (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.) led the Pipers in the all-conference balloting. Gross, a defender, received her third consecutive first team honor. Gross had seven assists in her senior season and was a strong force at the blue line.

Raasch earned her first all-conference accolade after leading the Pipers in scoring this year with 19 points on 13 goals and six assists. Raasch scored two goals in two different games this season (February 2 against Bethel and February 23 against Saint Benedict).

Defender Sophie Davidson (So., St. Paul, Minn.) earned honorable mention honors, making this the second straight season she has earned all-conference recognition. Davidson had six goals and seven assists this year. Her season was highlighted by a two goal, one assist performance in the January 27th win at St. Olaf to help Hamline tally their first series sweep of the season.

Three additional Piper forwards earned honorable mention status.

Emily Dusold (Sr., Shoreview, Minn.) had five goals and 12 assists, including two of each in the Augsburg series win and tie, allowing Hamline to accumulate three key points in the conference standings.

Melanie Leveille (So, Appleton, Wis.) tied with Raasch as the leading Piper scorer with 19 points from 10 goals and nine assists. Leveille has also earned all-conference honors in each of her first two seasons.

Senior Sara Mickelson (West St. Paul, Minn.) closed out her final collegiate season by scoring 12 goals and six assists for her second straight all-conference honor. Against St. Olaf on January 27th, Mickelson had a hat trick of assists. She followed that up against St. Thomas on February 9 with a hat trick of goals in a 5-4 victory.

Emily Toenes (Eagle River, Alaska), a senior defender, was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.

The Pipers, who finished the regular season with a record of 13-9-3, 8-7-3 MIAC and earned the #4 seed in the MIAC playoffs, will host #6 seed Bethel University in an MIAC first round playoff game on Thursday, February 28, at 7:15 p.m. The game will take place at Hamline’s home ice at Drake Arena on the campus of St. Paul Academy and Summit Schools.

Ticket prices are $7.00 for adults, $3.00 for students.

Hamline University belongs to the NCAA Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, one of the most competitive conferences in the nation. Hamline supports 19 intercollegiate athletic teams for men and women. Find out more about Hamline athletics at www.hamline.edu/athletics.

Creative and innovative teaching and learning attract a diverse student body of nearly 4,600 undergraduate and graduate students to Hamline University. Challenged to create and apply knowledge in local and global contexts, Hamline students develop an individual and community ethic of social justice, civic responsibility, and inclusive leadership and service.

Ranked first in Minnesota among comprehensive master’s universities by U.S.News & World Report, Hamline is also Minnesota’s first university, founded in 1854, and among the first co-educational institutions in the nation.