UMC Men's Basketball Picked to Finish 16th in NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston men’s basketball team was picked to finish 16^th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Preseason Coaches’ Poll released Thursday by the conference office.

The Golden Eagles are looking to continue to build with a solid core returning heading into Head Coach Dan Weisse’s third season leading the ship for the Golden Eagles. Weisse is looking to build the Golden Eagles the right way with high achieving players and hard-working young men.

The leading returnee for UMC is point guard Kobe Critchley, who averaged 9.2 points and 2.7 assists per game in his first season with the Golden Eagles. Critchley is the Player to Watch for the Golden Eagles coming into the season.

 In addition to Critchley, UMC also returns forward Gable Smith, who was a force on the block with 51 on the season. He also averaged 5.4 points and 4.5 rebounds and looks poised to improve on those numbers as a redshirt sophomore.

Minnesota Crookston also returns a third starter in post Nate Lorenz, who averaged 5.2 points and 3.3 rebounds. Key reserves Chase Knickerbocker, Jim Warmack and Xavier Hall will look to build upon what they did last season for UMC.

The Golden Eagles also return Riley Rice, Aaron Hollcraft and Darin Viken. Newcomers Chase Johnson, Benjamin Rounds, Harrison Cleary, Josh Lanasa and Gabrys Sadaunkyas along with redshirt Connor Gamble, will look to make an impact for Minnesota Crookston this season, as the Minnesota Crookston continues to figure out their rotation and personnel through practice and exhibition games.

Minnesota State University was picked to win the league with 11 first-place votes and 220 points. Defending NCAA Division II National Champion Augustana University was picked second with 190 points and two first-place votes. The Mavericks were picked to win the NSIC South, while Minnesota State University Moorhead was picked to win the NSIC North.

Gage Davis of St. Cloud State University was selected as the NSIC North Preseason Player of the Year, while Jon Fuqua of Minnesota State was picked as the NSIC South Preseason Player of the Year.

The Golden Eagles will open up exhibition play Nov. 4 at College of St. Scholastica at 7:30 p.m. They will commence regular-season play Nov. 11 at Southwest Baptist University at 4 p.m. in Bolivar, Mo.

Overall	Points		North Division	Points
1. Minnesota State (11)	220		1. MSU Moorhead (4)	46
2. Augustana (2)	190		2. St. Cloud State (4)	44
3. MSU Moorhead (1)	183		3. Northern State	39
St. Cloud State	183		4. University of Mary	28
5. Winona State (1)	174		5. Minot State	21
6. Sioux Falls (1)	172		6. Minnesota Duluth	20
7. Northern State	151		7. Bemidji State	18
8. Southwest Minnesota State	124		8. Minnesota Crookston	8
9. Upper Iowa	102		South Division	Points
10. University of Mary	96		1. Minnesota State (5)	47
11. Concordia-St. Paul	73		2. Augustana (2)	42
12. Minnesota Duluth	72		3. Sioux Falls (1)	36
Minot State	72		4. Winona State	35
14. Bemidji State	57		5. Southwest Minnesota State	23
15. Wayne State	29		6. Upper Iowa	20
16. Minnesota Crookston	22		7. Concordia-St. Paul	14
first place votes in ( )			8. Wayne State	7

UMC Women's Basketball Picked 11th in NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll

CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women’s basketball team was picked to finish 11^th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Preseason Coaches’ Poll released Thursday by the conference office. UMC was picked sixth in the NSIC North Division.

The Golden Eagles are coming off a historic season with an all-time best mark of 18-10 (14-8 NSIC) as they went to their second-consecutive NSIC/Sanford Health Quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Minnesota Crookston will look to build upon their great back-to-back seasons as they embark on the 2016-17 campaign. UMC will have to replace All-NSIC First Team performers Alexa Thielman and Katrina Nordick, who were among the best players in program history. It will be a tall order but the Golden Eagles have a strong core returning. Leading the way for UMC will be juniors Micaela Noga and Emily Gruber. Both players are two-year starters and have been key players on the team. Noga, UMC’s Player to Watch, averaged 8.8 points per game, while Gruber tallied 8.4 points per game. Sophomore point guard Alison Hughes will play an integral role for UMC. The All-NSIC Freshman Team pick tallied 10.3 points per game in her first season and looks poised to improve in her sophomore campaign.

Also returning are key bench players Isieoma Odor and Caitlin Michaelis, who both averaged over 15 minutes per game. Odor tallied 7.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, while Michaelis averaged 3.7 points per game.

The Golden Eagles also return letter winner Lindsey Weber.

In addition, UMC has 6-3 redshirt freshman Leanna Haugen to add to the fray, which will give UMC a strong post presence along with Gruber and Odor. Also look for newcomers Amber Schoenicke, Kelsey Stinson, Paige Weakley, Kitri Zezza and Stephanie McWilliams to make their mark for the Golden Eagles.

Winona State University was selected by the league coaches as the overall and south division preseason favorite. The Warriors received seven first-place votes, ahead of Augustana University’s four first-place votes and Northern State University’s three first-place votes. Northern State was picked second in the poll, just one vote behind Winona State, while Augustana was selected third. Northern State was selected as the NSIC North preseason favorite.

The Golden Eagles will open up the exhibition slate tonight at South Dakota State University at 7 p.m. They will commence the regular season Nov. 18 against Michigan Tech University at 4:30 p.m., in Houghton, Mich.

Overall	Points		North Division	Points
1. Winona State (7)	201		1. Northern State (6)	48
2. Northern State (3)	200		2. MSU Moorhead (1)	42
3. Augustana (4)	195		3. St. Cloud State	30
4. Wayne State	183		4. University of Mary	28
5. MSU Moorhead	163		5. Minnesota Duluth	24
6. Minnesota State (2)	146		6. Minnesota Crookston (1)	23
7. Concordia-St. Paul	140		7. Minot State	15
8. St. Cloud State	124		8. Bemidji State	14
9. Sioux Falls	108		South Division	Points
10. Minnesota Duluth	107		1. Winona State (3)	42
11. Minnesota Crookston	98		2. Augustana (2)	40
12. University of Mary	93		3. Wayne State (2)	38
13. Minot State	57		4. Minnesota State (1)	32
14. Bemidji State	56		5. Concordia-St. Paul	28
15. SMSU	26		6. Sioux Falls	24
16. Upper Iowa	23		7. Upper Iowa	11
first place votes in ( )			8. SMSU	9

Ticket info for 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey West Regional in Fargo

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota Athletics Department announced today ticket information for the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey West Regional in Fargo, N.D. Based on North Dakota Champions Club (NDCC) priority points, members will have the ability to purchase tickets through their My North Dakota accounts starting Monday, Nov. 14, and Tuesday, Nov. 15. This online-only special opportunity is available only to NDCC members and is a benefit of membership in NDCC.

The West Regional will be held at SCHEELS Arena on March 24-25, 2017. A limited amount of tickets will be available for students and will be communicated through student email in the coming weeks. A limited amount of tickets for the general public will be available to purchase online only on Thursday, Dec. 8.

Ticket availability is based on NDCC priority points. The descending NDCC list for West Regional tickets will be based on NDCC priority points as of 12 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016. On Monday, Nov. 14, NDCC members in the top 100 will have the opportunity to purchase up to six (6) tickets per NDCC membership account, subject to availability. On Tuesday, Nov. 15, NDCC members ranking from 101 through 400 will have the opportunity to purchase up to four (4) tickets per NDCC membership account subject to availability. The deadline for the top 400 members to purchase tickets is 6 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday, Nov. 16.  At 10 a.m. CT on Thursday, Nov. 17, NDCC members No. 401 and beyond will have the opportunity to purchase up to two (2) tickets per NDCC membership account, subject to availability on a first-come, first-serve basis in each member’s My North Dakota account.

NDCC members received an email earlier today with more information about My North Dakota account and their current priority point ranking.

Questions about priority points and all NDCC matters should be directed to Champions Club Associate Director Val Sussex at 701.777.4078 or at vals@undfoundation.org.

A limited number of tickets will be held for a general public online-only on-sale that will start at 10 a.m. CT on Dec. 8. Those seeking to purchase tickets to the West Regional via the public on-sale may do so by visiting www.NCAA.com/FrozenFour. Purchasing tickets online is the only way to secure tickets as there will not be in-person sales.

In addition, a limited number of West Regional tickets will be held exclusively for students. More information will be available to students in the coming weeks. Student tickets for the West Regional will be $64 and located in a student-only section, which is standing room-only behind the north goal at SCHEELS Arena.

All tickets for the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey West Regional will be sold as a three-game package that includes the two semifinal games and the regional championship game. Ticket prices for NDCC members and the general public range from $104 to $114. Game times are set by the NCAA in conjunction with ESPN the week of the tournament.

In addition to tickets, NDCC members will have the ability to purchase on-site parking passes and tickets into the fan fest, which will be held in the new connected addition of SCHEELS Arena.  Parking and fan fest tickets will also be available in the same buying experience in members’ My North Dakota account.  There are two parking options: a premium pass for $30 for entire tournament, which is good for the parking lot outside the main doors on the south side of SCHEELS Arena, and general parking, which is $20 for the entire tournament and is located in additional on-site lots.  The fan fest will be an area that will have live entertainment and fans will be allowed to purchase food and beverages before the first game of each day and between games on Friday, Mar. 24.  The fan fest is an all-ages event, however only people of age will be able to purchase adult beverages.  The fan fest will open 90 minutes prior to puck drop of the first game of each day when the doors to SCHEELS Arena open to the public.  Tickets to the fan fest are $20.

College Hockey Polls

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – When the top-ranked University of North Dakota opens National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) play this week, it’ll do so against the second-ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs according to both national men’s hockey polls released on Monday.

North Dakota (5-0-0) was the unanimous No. 1 in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, while the Bulldogs (3-1-2) stayed at No. 2 in both. When UND travels to UMD on Friday and Saturday, it will mark the first time since Oct. 2000 vs. Michigan that UND will be USCHO’s top-ranked team facing its No. 2-ranked team.

The Denver Pioneers made it an NCHC sweep in the top three in both polls this week.

The Fighting Hawks are coming off of a non-conference sweep of Bemidji State last weekend, giving UND its first 5-0 start since 2002-03.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll

Rk.      School (1st-place votes)         Record           Pts.         PR

1.         North Dakota (50)                       5-0-0         1000            1

2.         Minnesota Duluth                              3-1-2            905            2

3.         Denver                                               4-2-0            845            6

4.         Boston University                             3-2-0            785            8

5.         Massachusetts-Lowell                      3-1-2            746            5

6.         Quinnipiac                                          3-2-1            725            4

7.         Notre Dame                                       3-2-1            686            3

8.         Boston College                                 4-2-0            641          10

9.         Minnesota State                                5-1-0            605            9

10.       St. Cloud State                                  2-2-0            499          14

11.       Michigan                                            3-1-1            484          11

12.       Minnesota                                          2-2-0            412            7

13.       Harvard                                              0-0-0            374          13

14.       Providence                                         2-2-1            320          15

15.       Ohio State                                          3-0-2            302          19

16.       Northeastern                                     3-1-2            254          17

17.       Yale                                                    0-0-0            207          16

18.       St. Lawrence                                      3-3-0            173          12

19.       Penn State                                          3-1-1            129         NR

20.       Bemidji State                                     4-2-0            122          18

Others receiving votes: Western Michigan 73, Miami 69, Lake Superior State 44, Clarkson 33, Cornell 15, Air Force 12, Maine 9, Omaha 9, Union 8, Wisconsin 6, Connecticut 3, Vermont 3, Dartmouth 1, Michigan Tech 1.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

Rk.      School (1st-place votes)         Record           Pts.         PR

1.         North Dakota (34)                       5-0-0           510            1

2.         Minnesota Duluth                              3-1-2            462            2

3.         Denver                                               4-2-0            417            6

4.         Boston University                             3-2-0            377            8

5.         Massachusetts-Lowell                      3-1-2            355            5

6.         Notre Dame                                       3-2-1            325            4

7.         Quinnipiac                                          3-2-1            299            3

8.         Boston College                                 4-2-0            239          10

9.         Minnesota State                                5-1-0            198            9

10.       St. Cloud State                                  2-2-0            186          14

11.       Michigan                                            3-1-1            178          12

12.       Minnesota                                          2-2-0            124            7

13.       Harvard                                              0-0-0            100          11

14.       Ohio State                                          3-0-2              84         NR

15.       Providence                                         2-2-1              69          15

Others receiving votes: Northeastern 50, Penn State 37, Lake Superior State 16, Yale 14, St. Lawrence 13, Union 7, Bemidji State 5, Connecticut 5, Western Michigan 5, Michigan Tech 4, Clarkson 1.