WINONA, Minn. — If you ask Mark Staub B’88 what his most treasured memory of his time at Saint Mary’s was, he would undoubtedly say back-stopping Saint Mary’s run to the MIAC regular-season championship during his senior season.
That memory could quite possibly be dropped to No. 2 on Saturday, as Staub takes his place among the all-time greats in Saint Mary’s history when he is inducted into the Saint Mary’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Staub, along with Bruna Bucciarelli B’76, George Drouches B’78, Jenni (Gutterman) Becker B’06, and Jen (Schipp) Stewart B’06, will be recognized and honored as part of the second annual Cardinal Excellence Fund Dinner, which will be held at Visions Event Center in Winona.
“This is such a great honor to be a part of,” said Staub of his HOF induction. “When I got the (HOF) call, I laughed, I cried, I got the chills … I knew it was going to mean something, but it means way more than I ever imagined.
“A lot of guys who I played with have already been inducted, and in the back of my mind I always thought, what a great honor it would be to be inducted,” Staub added. “But I just figured I was good, but not good enough.”
He was good enough.
A four-year letterwinner, Staub, a goalie, was named First-Team All-MIAC following both his junior and senior seasons, and helped lead Saint Mary’s to a regular-season conference title in his final campaign in 1987-88.
Staub, who made 74 career appearances between the pipes, saved his best season for last, appearing in all 29 games, while compiling a 3.84 goals-against-average and an .886 save percentage. Staub remains No. 1 all-time in career wins as a goalie with 50 — including a single-season school-record 22 wins in 1987-88 — and is No. 2 all time in saves in a season (872) and a career (2,266).
“I was never a stats guy – I never really cared about my own stats, I cared about wins and losses,” Staub said. “And my senior year, everything came together, it was the greatest season of my life. To win that regular-season title, I will never forget that — winning that title is the greatest accomplishment.”
Until Saturday’s induction, that is.