By Ryan Stieg
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — After the St. Thomas men’s hockey team had to settle for a tie Friday night against Bowling Green, Tommies head coach Rico Blasi emphasized that his team needed to be better at managing the puck, especially in the third period.
The Tommies clearly listened as they racked up three power play goals and stayed comfortably ahead through most of the game on their way to a 6-3 victory over the Falcons. Cooper Gay had two of UST’s goals, both on the power play, while goalie Aaron Trotter finished with 32 saves.
“A lot better tonight,” Blasi said. “A lot better in the third period. Obviously, opportunistic on our chances, which is important. Special teams were good. They’re (the Falcons) a good hockey team. They come at you in waves. They play a very aggressive style, so you really have to be on your toes. You have to sacrifice your body and support each other and I thought we did that tonight.”
Just like on Friday night, the Tommies got off to a good start as Gay got things going on the power play. After UST killed off a 5 on 3, Gay blocked a shot, raced up the middle of the ice and beat Falcons goalie Cole Moore on a breakaway to make it 1-0 at the 8:36 mark.
Later at the 14-minute mark, the Tommies struck again on a lucky bounce. UST center Caige Sterzer looked as if he was bringing the puck around the back of the BG net, but instead, passed it into the crease where it went off a Falcons player and into the back of the net to make it 2-0. That was Sterzer’s first goal as a Tommie and the 15th of his career.
When asked if he thought he’d get a goal going into the game, Sterzer said he wasn’t sure if he would at all, and was relieved to finally get it.
“At the rate the start of the season went, I didn’t really know at this point, but it was good to get that first one out of the way,” he said.
Sterzer transferred to UST this season from Lindenwood and said what drew him to the Tommies was their potential for success.
“I think just seeing the roster on this team, I knew we had a really good team coming up and I knew we have a good chance at winning the conference this year,” he said. “That’s the goal for everyone and I think we can do that. That was the main thing.”
BG got a goal back a little more than a minute later on a nice shot by center Ben Doran, who sniped a shot from the point past Trotter to cut the deficit to 2-1 heading into the second period.
UST kept its offense going in the second with Matthew Gleason getting in on the scoring at the 2:26 mark. With the Tommies on the power play, Gleason moved into the slot and tipped a shot by Casy Laylin past Moore to make it 3-1.
The Falcons wouldn’t go away though as they trimmed UST’s lead to 3-2 at 9:58. During an offensive rush, Brett Pfoh sent a cross-ice pass to Ville Immonen, who one-timed it past Trotter.
However, the Tommies kept humming offensively with captain Lucas Wahlin getting in on the action as he snapped a shot past Moore at 15:13 to make it 4-2, and then a little more than a minute later, Gay picked up his second goal of the game. With UST on the power play, Gay tapped the puck down low at the net that looked like Moore had blocked, but it snuck under his pads and the Tommies took a three-goal advantage into the third.
As the puck was sliding toward the line on the goal, Wahlin dived for it to push it across, so there was a moment of confusion as to whether he or Gay scored, which led to a funny moment as they debated who should lead the group past the bench.
“We didn’t really know,” Gay said with a laugh. “We were kind of joking about it. You can watch the video, but we were both were like ‘Who’s going first through the line?’ and I was like ‘I’ll just take it.’ Either way, both going to the net. We’re both hungry and it was good to see. If he puts it in, it’s good too. It’s a good team win. I don’t care about goals. I just care about us winning.”
Once again, BG got a goal back, this time at 3:15 in the third as Pfoh brought the puck behind the Tommies net and passed it into the crease where Quinn Emerson tapped it past Trotter to cut UST’s lead to 5-3.
However, the Tommies wouldn’t be deterred as Ryan O’Neill puck the game away at the 17:37 mark. With UST circling the net and peppering the net with shots, O’Neill snapped a shot from the slot past Moore to get the lead back to three goals at 6-3.
After the game, the Tommies stretched together while music blared around them, so it was clear there was a sense of relief in the locker room by getting back in the win column before they face defending MacNaughton Cup champion Bemidji State next week.
“I feel like it’s a little bit lighter,” Gay said. “It’s not as tense in there and hopefully, we can take it into next weekend and have a good week of practice and go up there and sweep them.”