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Author: Isa Sanchez-Esparza
(Photo credit: University of St Thomas)
St. Thomas is about to begin their second season as a Division 1 team and I’m about to begin my first season covering them, so let’s jump right in! Lay of the Land Last year, St. Thomas finished 9th in the 10 team Summit League – not shocking for a team jumping all the way from DIII to DI. And for those who watched closely, there were a number of games where at least *possible* points were dropped (Northern Iowa, Green Bay, NDSU, etc). If you don’t know a lot about the Summit League, the very short (and overly reductive) introduction is that Denver and South Dakota State essentially own the top two spots and everyone else is chasing them. What this means in practice is that most games are at least somewhat up for grabs. Meaning it’s not crazy for any one team to “surprise” a team above them on paper in any one game. That kind of wide open landscape presents an opportunity for a team that finished 2021 in the bottom run of the standings to jump up to the recently expanded (from 4 to 6) Conference Tournament field with just a few improved results. St Thomas, for example, could have finished 6th with just two more additional wins (like against theoretically beatable opponents in Oral Robert, KC, NDSU, etc). Now, St Thomas can’t actually participate in tournament play while they are still in their probationary period from DIII to DI, but don’t think the coaches and players don’t have that tournament field marked as a goal in their minds. How sweet would it be to say “you’re lucky you didn’t have to face us in the tournament?” No better internal bulletin board material.
Trends to Track One notable element of Head Coach Sheila McGill’s tactics last year was a willingness to play forward and refuse to park the bus as a theoretically undermatched team. The Tomcats attacked consistently finishing 4th in shots in the Summit League, including notching the individual shots per game leader in Abby Brantner (3.82 shots/game). Consider how willing they were to go forward, it’s impressive they were 6th in goals allowed – thanks in no small part to keeper Olivia Graupmann’s 3rd best in the Summit League save percentage. They played a fairly high line against the U of MN in a recent exhibition, and again against St. Cloud State. Watch to see if that continues. Getting off shots doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a threat to score. How will St Thomas create real chances? Will they rely on counter attacking chances in space where Lexi Huber and Brantner can get on their horse and run onto the ball? Do they have the chops to finish off set pieces? Incoming transfer Mariah Nguyen scored a *bonkers* header on a corner kick against St Cloud State a few days back. So maybe they’ll have some variety in their attack. Lastly, how will these young tommies grow over the season? Of the 30 players on the roster (pretty darn big for DI, by the way) only 8 are older than freshmen or sophomores. That is…wild. What to Watch For Here are some immediate things I’ll be looking for in the first few games: Style of Play: As I mentioned earlier, St. Thomas has a lot of new additions to their team this year, and figuring out how to use them won’t be easy. I want to see how, as players and coaching staff, they tackle this particular obstacle and who works best with who, and under what circumstances. How will these circumstances change game to game? I’m most excited to see which of these girls work best together.
Level of Intensity: Watching their exhibition game against St. Cloud State, the Tomcats put in immense effort against the Huskies. But when they reached their 2-0 lead, they seemed to have settled into their comfort too early. The Huskies managed to increase their odds by scoring a goal in the last 15 minutes or so of the game, giving them a 2-1 score. While it’s always good to be relaxed instead of panicked (god I hate when this happens), it’s important to keep up the intensity in a game so you don’t risk getting complacent. Intensity looks different on each team, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it looks on the Tomcats, and how it will develop throughout the season. Immense Subbing Strategy: While watching their exhibition matches, one factor that stayed the same all throughout these games, was the amount of subs that happened all throughout. It’s an interesting strategy that I’ve seen from Head Coach Sheila McGill, and it seems to be working very well for them. First, what I like about this strategy is that it gives most players opportunities to get minutes and real experience at the DI college level. What makes me weary about this strategy, is that it could possibly prevent chemistry from being made with the players to create scoring opportunities. It’s a strategy that helps everyone on the team, but at a possible cost for slow chemistry to be built. With that being said, I’m very curious to see if this rapid subbing strategy continues throughout the season! Possession: I will admit, this one is just purely one I enjoy paying attention to. As a former central defensive midfielder, I always enjoy a team’s tactics when it comes to possessing the ball. St. Thomas has already proven that they can possess the ball, and that they can do it well at times. But what I’m most excited to see is how they can take this part of their strength to help boost other parts of their play. Will their possession help in their attack (or even in their defense)? Will it give players a chance to keep calm, and catch their breath? (I personally love when that’s the case – playing is a tough job, let me tell you). Or will it give them a chance to use up all their energy to catch the opponent off guard, and win them a golden opportunity to score? (These are my personal favorite moments). While I’m still learning the ropes of this whole journalism thing, the most important thing to me is that the girls at St. Thomas are having fun while playing. I can’t wait to watch them develop as players, and as a team. This season is going to be a fun one, and I can’t wait! The Tomcat’s first game is today at 4pm. They will be hosting Green Bay, at South Athletic Field! Hope to see you there!
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Hello everyone! This is most definitely going to be one of those lame “all about me” articles, but I’m gonna try and give you the gist and be as funny as I can (please laugh at all my lame jokes, I’m not as funny as I think I am). First, let me introduce myself. My name is Isabella, but most people call me Isa. I just barely turned eighteen in May (HOORAY! A LEGAL ADULT!!) and I’m a graduate from Como Park Senior High School, Class of 2022. My Soccer Story I’ve been playing soccer since I was three years old. It was the only sport I ever picked up on (was at least somewhat good at), and truly fell in love with. I played club soccer for the Saint Paul Blackhawks from the time I was nine and for the Como Girls Varsity team all my four years of high school. It was honestly a blast. I spent some of the best years of my life on that team, and I would give anything to relive those days. During the end of my junior year season at Como, I was elected to be the captain of our varsity squad, truly one of the greatest honors I was ever given. In my final season as a senior, we were granted the grand opportunity to play inside of the Minnesota United stadium at Allianz Field for our annual Mayor’s Cup. A unique game that is traditionally played between Como Park and Humboldt High. That is a day I will never forget, it was one truly of a kind.
I come from a background of soccer players. Being raised by two first-generation children of immigrants heavily impacted how much I was exposed to this sport. My mom was a first-generation college student to two wonderful Mexican immigrants (my grandparents obviously), while my father is an immigrant from Peru, who had to navigate this scary world we call home, in order to be successful. Oh! He went to college too, by the way. And then there’s me, Isa. The oldest of three to these beautiful individuals who I am lucky enough to call my parents. Growing up, soccer was a form of escapism for me. I played day in and day out, always loving every second I spent working on my skills. I was not one of those naturally talented, or “gifted” girls. It’s embarrassing to think about, but before I started improving, I was a horrible soccer player. But even so, I understood the game better than anyone else. I dedicated every second I spent playing to improving my skills. The talent I have now is all thanks to my hard work and dedication, and nothing more. Soccer was such a meaningful thing to me, not just because it was a healthy stress reliever, but because it gave me the opportunity to be whoever I wanted to be, and that meant so much to me in those moments that I couldn’t even begin to describe it. My Journey to Equal Time By the time I was a Sophomore in high school, I had been dabbling in story writing, not even realizing how much my love for writing had developed. Since I was a little girl, my parents had always exposed me to all different types of it. My dad, for one, is a poet. I grew up memorizing the words to his poems, and silently reciting them with him whenever he performed. My mother however, didn’t write, she read (and also edited all of mine and my dad’s writing, but you didn’t hear it from me). She always encouraged me to be reading books, and when I was old enough, sharing her taste in books with me. I started off with journaling, and writing poetry, soon realizing I was good at neither. And here is where my Sophomore year comes in. This is when I first began story writing. And ever since then, I’ve been in love with it.
The reason I wanted to join Equal Time Soccer isn’t because I think it’ll be easy, it’s because I think writing for them will push me and my writing even further (even though I’m not quite a journalist yet). And even better, I decided to put two of my favorite things together, soccer, and writing. My Beat That being said, my core “beat” will be the St. Thomas Women’s Soccer team. Personally, I’m super excited to start. I’m curious to see how the team works together, and what exactly their style of play is, considering I’ve never watched them before. Since I’m a former midfielder, I constantly pay attention to how the ball moves, and who’s filling the empty spaces. I’m also curious to see what style and formation will be used for the midfield, and what the players who fulfill that position are like. [Matt note: you all need to follow our Twitter replies closer. This news was out there :)] 
Some ways I will most likely cover the team is through Instagram and Twitter! I also highly enjoy taking (funny) pictures and videos as the game goes on. When the team is not playing, I’ll try and do some shows, or maybe even a podcast! I’m not quite sure yet, but keep an eye out for that! Some other things I want to cover is high school soccer! I’ll be focusing on the Como Park Cougars the most, but will also do some covering of Humboldt High School, and Washington Tech, and their development as their season goes on. I always like coming back home to where it all started, and always having a connection there. In my opinion, there’s a lot of overlooked talent in the Saint Paul district, and I want to show the world just how much power the overlooked and under-appreciated truly have. Send Me Your Ideas! And finally, we’ve reached the end of my babbling. But before anything, here’s how you can follow me:
I also want to hear from you! What do you want more coverage of? Who of St. Thomas do you want to see highlighted? Any ideas for what coverage you want to see on gameday? Any questions you have for me in general? Let me know! This has been the definitive guide to Isa! Thank you everyone. 
We sit down with St Thomas veterans Olivia Graupmann and Alex Balfour about how the jump to DI has compared to their expectations, what the incredibly team-first focus looks like for players day to day, their favorite road trip of the season, producing a baking show for Olivia, getting Alex into local politics, and more!
Show presented by Pentz Homes (pentzhomes.com). You can watch the show as a video below or listen to it as a podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher.
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