Free tickets again will be available to students for the NCAA Division III football playoff game on Saturday between St. Thomas and Bethel in O’Shaughnessy Stadium, but there is a catch.
Only 450 free tickets will be given away beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1, at the Box Office in Murray-Herrick Campus Center. One ticket will be given to each student with a valid St. Thomas ID on a first-come, first-served basis. The tickets are courtesy of Student Affairs.
There will be no advanced sales for tickets, which are $8 for adults and $4 for students. Gates will open at 10:30 a.m., and there will be free parking in the Anderson Parking Facility. The bleachers hold 4,500 and there is standing-room space around Palmer Field for 2,000 to 3,000 more.
The clash between No. 4 St. Thomas (12-0) and No. 14 Bethel (11-1) will be a rematch of the Oct. 23 Homecoming thriller witnessed by an overflow crowd of 6,000. The Tommies trailed 6-3 in the third quarter before scoring the go-ahead touchdown and then holding off the Royals with a late interception to win 10-6.
St. Thomas earned its second straight trip to the Division III quarterfinals with a 24-17 double-overtime win Saturday over No. 8 Linfield. The Tommies won a school-record 12thgame in avenging a 31-20 loss to Linfield in last December’s playoff quarterfinals in McMinnville, Ore. To read more about Saturday’s win, read the game story or sidebaron tommiesports.com.
Fans unable to attend Saturday’s game can watch it via live video stream that can be accessed beginning at 11:50 a.m. at https://www.mnsportsnetwork.com/. Last Saturday, the video stream of the St. Thomas-Linfield game attracted about 8,800 hits from 2,400 visitors.
The St. Thomas-Bethel winner will advance to the Division III semifinals against the winner of the Mount Union-Alfred game. If the Tommies defeat Bethel, they will host the semifinal game on Dec. 11. The championship game – the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl – is Dec. 18 in Salem, Va.
