The 2019 St. Thomas club lacrosse season was an exciting time for midfielder Sydney Liebl as she led her team to the national tournament and took home the Amtahcha Award.

Liebl earned Division II national midfielder of the year and the Amtahcha Award after leading the nation in goals and points.

On May 8, she became the first in school history to win the “Amtahcha Award”, which was established in 2012 through a gift from Dr. Larry Feldman, founder of LaxPower.com to recognize the national player of the year.

“I really developed my ability to move away from the ball and cut to get open,” Liebl said. “Michaela Hoffman inspired me to improve my off-ball movements because she is amazing at scoring off a cut.”

Senior attack Michaela Hoffman was awarded All-American attack of the year last season.

The Tommies earned the number three seed for the Division II National Championships after their undefeated regular season.

“Last year was unique, because we didn’t lose anyone from the year before so the team was very familiar with each other,” Liebel said. “We were able to pick up right where we left off.”

The women’s lacrosse club has qualified for the WCLA National Tournament every year since 2015.

Ashley Nelsen has been with St. Thomas since she graduated in 2012. She is the coaching coordinator for all Edina youth teams and the head coach at Breck High School in Golden Valley. She also coaches at Minnesota Elite Club Lacrosse.

“The fact that Coach Nelsen has been here since there was barely enough girls to field a team, really shows how great of a leader she has been for the program,” Hoffman said.

Nelsen was awarded the WCLA Coach of the Year award in 2018. Nelsen is a 2012 graduate of St. Thomas and is beginning her eighth season with the university.

St. Thomas graduated six seniors and are returning 14 players from last year. From those 14, All-Americans Kelly Coyne and Michaela Hoffman will lead the charge for the Tommies.

Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu.