MIAC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Five Saint John's University hockey student-athletes earned Academic All-MIAC honors on Tuesday, June 21.

Those honored (listed alphabetically) include:

-Junior forward Dan McNamara (Grand Rapids, Mich.), a global business leadership major with a 3.64 GPA;
-Sophomore forward Huba Sekesi (Germering, Germany), a global business leadership and Hispanic studies double-major with a 3.59 GPA;  
-Junior defenseman Daniel Tripicchio (Hudson, Wis.), an accounting major with a 4.0 GPA;
-Sophomore forward Sam Valerius (Maple Grove, Minn.), a global business leadership major with a 3.57 GPA; 
-Junior forward Dan Voce (Princeton, Minn.), a mathematics major (pre-engineering emphasis) with a 3.98 GPA.

Student-athletes must be a sophomore, junior or senior academically with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 on a 4.00 scale to qualify for Academic All-MIAC recognition. Athletically, hockey student-athletes must compete in 50 percent of their team's varsity, regular-season contests. Goaltenders must play in one-third (33.3 percent) of their team's total minutes played for the regular season.

For the second time in the last three years, SJU led the conference with 63 male Academic All-MIAC honorees in 2015-16, six ahead of second-place St. Thomas (57). The Johnnies finished second in 2014-15, one honoree behind UST, and led the league with 57 in 2013-14.

Sekesi played 24 games and led SJU in assists (16), points (25) and power-play points (8), while tying senior Neal Smith (Rogers, Minn.) for second with nine goals. He won a team-high 64.4 percent (309-171) of his faceoff draws and his 12 assists and 19 points in conference play were good for third in the MIAC despite missing two conference games. Sekesi tallied nine points (3g/6a) in the Johnnies' final six games. 

A 2016 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) At-Large Academic All-American, Tripicchio also received the 2016 MIAC Elite 22 Award, which is presented to the individual with the highest GPA between the two teams that meet in the playoff championship game. Tripicchio played all but one game for SJU in 2015-16 and finished second on the team, among defensemen, with nine points (1g/8a).

Valerius tied for fourth on the team with 16 points (7g/9a) in 23 games, while McNamara and Voce tallied eight (2g/6a) and nine (3g/6a) points, respectively. The Academic All-MIAC honor is the second consecutive for McNamara.

SJU finished third, one point in the standings from second and a win from the regular-season conference championship, with a 10-4-2 record in the MIAC (13-10-4 overall). The Johnnies advanced to their second MIAC Playoff Championship game in the last four seasons, thanks to a 10-game unbeaten streak (8-0-2 record) to end the regular season.