St. Thomas captured its first NCAA Division III women�s soccer regional championship since 1987 and handed UW-Stevens Point its first loss of the season with a 3-0 victory Sunday in Stevens Point.

The loss snapped the Pointers� 29-match home unbeaten streak and was their first shutout in 30 matches as they finished 18-1-2 overall. The Tommies extended their unbeaten streak to 15 straight matches and improved to 14-3-2 overall. They advance to the national quarterfinals and could face one of the teams to beat them earlier this season in Ohio Wesleyan. The Battling Bishops face Wilmington (Ohio) in a regional final tonight.

Oddly, the matchup came 26 days after the St. Thomas and UW-Stevens Point were originally scheduled to play in Stevens Point, but the match was cancelled due to four inches of snow.

St. Thomas got on top early with a goal at the 19:16 mark when Elizabeth Sullivan slid a pass across the penalty box to Tessie Thompson, who scored just inside the post from 15 yards out. UW-Stevens Point had few scoring opportunities the entire match against the Tommies� defense, but had its best chances late in the first half and in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

The Pointers continued to push forward on offense throughout the second half and the Tommies took advantage with 15:45 left when Valerie Johnson scored on a goal similar to Thompson�s just inside the post from 15 yards off a pass from Catie Gibson.

St. Thomas added a late score on a goal by Mary Dienhart off a pass from Jenny Murray at the 85:32 mark.

Jessica Christopherson had five saves for the Tommies, who held a 17-14 advantage in shots. She also helped the Tommies shutout the Pointers for just the second time in 13 all-time meetings and first time since 1991. It was the first time the Pointers have been shutout by any team since Wheaton (Ill.) midway through last season. The last team to shutout the Pointers at home was also the last team to win in Stevens Point when the University of Chicago posted a 1-0 win on Sept. 26, 2000. It was the Pointers' worst shutout loss since a 3-0 defeat to Gustavus Adolphus on Sept. 7, 1997.

The loss was just the fourth over the past 58 matches for the Pointers as the senior class of Molly Cady, Macy Mory, Emma-klara Porter and Andrea Spiel leaves with a career record of 75-12-2 over their four seasons.

Score by Halves            1-2-F
St. Thomas                      1-2-3
UW-Stevens Point           0-0-0

Scoring
UST � Tessie Thompson (Elizabeth Sullivan), 19:16
UST � Valerie Johnson (Catie Gibson), 74:15
UST � Mary Dienhart (Jenny Murray), 85:32

Shots on Goal � UWSP 14, UST 17
Fouls � UWSP 7, UST 12
Goalie Saves � UWSP 8 (Kortney Krill 4, Melissa Meister 4), UST 5 (Jessica Christopherson)
Corner Kicks � UWSP 6, UST 2