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Local connections abound in women's college hockey national tournaments

jason feldman, post-bulletin, rochester, minn.
·5 min read

Mar. 8—A trio of former southeastern Minnesota girls hockey standouts are all in the same arena this weekend, as the NCAA Division I women's hockey national tournament begins.

Lake City's Taylor Heise — who was named the women's hockey National Player of the Month for February — has led the University of Minnesota to the No. 2 overall seed in national tournament and a first-round bye. That means the Gophers will need to win just one game this weekend to reach the Frozen Four, which is set for March 17 and 19 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Rochester Mayo graduate Makayla Pahl is also a member of the No. 2-ranked Gophers (29-5-3), who won the WCHA Final Faceoff last weekend on their home ice, Ridder Arena, in Minneapolis. That's where one of four NCAA regionals will take place, beginning today.

In the first-round game at Ridder, Minnesota Duluth will face Clarkson at 6 p.m. Thursday. Rochester native and former Shattuck St. Mary's standout defender Taylor Stewart is a senior for the Bulldogs, who were the national runners-up a year ago.

The NCAA Division III national tournament also begins this week. Four former southeastern Minnesotans will play in that tournament, including a pair of Rochester Lourdes graduates — Clara Billings of Gustavus and Emma Schmitz of UW-River Falls — who will go head-to-head in the opening round.

Here's a look at the seven southeastern Minnesotans who will play in the national tournaments, beginning this week:

The Lake City native and fifth-year Gophers forward has had another sensational season, being named to the All-WCHA First Team and the national Forward of the Month for February. The 2022 Patty Kazmaier Award winner as the best player in women's college hockey, Heise has followed her senior season with another sensational season in her fifth and final season of college hockey. She leads the country in goals (29) and is second in total points (65). Heise and the No. 2-seeded Gophers (29-5-3) are one win away from qualifying for the Frozen Four.

The senior goalie and Rochester Mayo graduate has played in seven games this season for the No. 2-ranked Gophers, who won the WCHA postseason championship last weekend on their home ice, at Ridder Arena. They'll play in an NCAA national quarterfinal on Saturday at 2 p.m., at home, against the winner of the winner of Thursday's first-round game between Minnesota Duluth and Clarkson. Pahl is 3-0-0 with a 1.56 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage this season. For her four-year Gophers career, she is 14-3-1 with a 1.77 GAA and a .930 save percentage.

Stewart is a senior from Rochester, who played prep hockey at Shattuck St. Mary's in Faribault. The fourth-year standout defender has been a mainstay in the lineup for the Bulldogs — who made it to the national championship game last season — since her freshman year. She has two goals and four assists in 37 games this season and she is third on the team with 48 blocked shots. Stewart has four goals and 18 points in her four-year UMD career, and she has 143 blocked shots (she led the Bulldogs last season with 64).

Billings, a 2019 Lourdes grad, is a senior for the Gustavus Adolphus College Gusties, the No. 1-ranked team in Division III. The Gusties will host UW-River Falls (24-3-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday in a national quarterfinal game. Fellow Lourdes grad and Billings' former teammate with the Eagles, Emma Schmitz, plays for UW-River Falls. Billings, a 5-foot-8 forward, has played in 19 of 27 games this season for the Gusties (24-3-0 overall), recording 11 goals (six power-play goals) and 19 points. Billings has the team's second-best shooting percentage, scoring on 22.4 percent of her chances (11 goals on 49 shots). Billings was the Gusties' sixth-leading scorer last year as a junior, with seven goals and 19 points. Billings scored 57 goals and had 83 points in her two seasons at Lourdes.

A sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Schmitz was a three-year standout for Rochester Lourdes. She scored 24 goals and had 58 points as a senior for Lourdes in 2019-20, when she helped the Eagles place fourth in the Class A state tournament. She was nearly unstoppable as a high school player, finishing her three-year varsity career with 88 goals and 88 assists, for 176 points. Schmitz went from being a pure goal-scorer as a high school sophomore (34 goals, 22 assists) to becoming an outstanding all-around player and playmaker (24 goals, 34 assists) as a senior. She has shown that playmaking ability for No. 4-ranked UW-River Falls (24-3-1). She has 10 goals and 21 assists, for 31 points, in 28 games this season, giving her 22 goals and 47 points in 52 games in her two college seasons.

Another former Rochester Lourdes standout, Wick (an Eyota native) is a sophomore forward for No. 10-ranked Colby College (17-7-0 overall) in Waterville, Maine. She has one goal and one assist, and six blocked shots, in 20 games this season. She had five points (two goals, three assists) as a freshman a year ago. In her four seasons at Lourdes, Wick scored 24 goals and had 80 points, including a 12-goal, 34-point senior season in 2020-21 when the Eagles won the Section 1A championship and qualified for a third consecutive Class A state tournament. Colby College plays host to Norwich University at 7 p.m. tonight in an NCAA Tournament first-round game. The winner will play at Amherst (Mass.) College at 2 p.m. Saturday in a national quarterfinal game.

Owatonna native Jessica VonRuden is a grad student and a standout forward for No. 5-ranked Adrian (Mich.) College, which is 26-3-0 this season and will host a national quarterfinal game at 2 p.m. Saturday against either Nazareth College (Rochester, N.Y.) or Hamilton College (Clinton, N.Y.). VonRuden leads Adrian in goals (28) and points (48). She played two seasons at Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) Hockey Academy between her time at Owatonna High School and the start of her college career. She has 76 goals and 152 points in her five seasons at Adrian.