By Ryan Stieg
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — There was a lot on the line for the St. Thomas hockey team Friday night as a victory over Michigan Tech would increase the Tommies’ chances at getting home ice in the first round of the CCHA Tournament.
At the same time, a loss would almost kill their chances of achieving that goal and late in the third period, the final result could’ve gone either way as the Tommies held a 4-0 lead, but then surrendered three extra attacker goals to the Huskies before eventually withstanding Tech’s rally to earn a 4-3 victory. With Bowling Green losing to Lake Superior State, a victory tomorrow would lock up home ice for the Tommies.
“It was a great decision by them to pull the goalie,” UST head coach Rico Blasi said. “They made a couple of really nice plays. We took a penalty and they scored on a power play. Then we had to close it out. That’s the way it goes. I think at this time of the year, you expect the unexpected and you play the game for what it is.”
The Tommies pushed early in the first period and put lots of pressure on Huskies goalie Ryan Manzella, and at the 2:42 mark, they cashed in. With UST on a rush, Tommies defenseman Chase Foley passed the puck to Ethan Gauer in the slot and Gauer tapped it past Manzella to make it 1-0.
“It was obviously special (to score) on my second senior night,” Gauer said. “It was a better outcome this time than last year. We’re just happy as a team to grind it out. It wasn’t pretty, but I was glad to chip in.”
Gauer has been with the Tommies since their first year of Division I four years ago and he’s says he’s thoroughly enjoyed his time on the roster.
“I’m so proud to be a part of this team and this culture and this university,” he said. “I really wanted to come back for my fifth year to help just kind of push the envelope and move the needle forward. It’s been the coolest experience of my life and an honor to be here for four years to help build this amazing program.”
Play evened out as the period wore on and Tech started to generate some decent scoring chances, but UST goalie Jake Sibell made some nice stops to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard. Later at the 14:42 mark, the Tommies struck again on a goal by Ryan O’Neill. With UST on another big rush, Tommies forward Jake Braccini sent a cross-ice pass over to O’Neill, who beat Manzella to the left post to push the lead to 2-0 heading into the second period.
The second period was evenly played with both teams playing good defense and limiting scoring opportunities. Tech had its best chance to get on the board when it was on the power play in the first half of the period, but couldn’t capitalize as Sibell stood tall.
“I was seeing it well,” Sibell said. “It was kind of hard to move at the end of the game because my skate lace broke. But the whole time, I just felt like I was seeing the puck pretty well and our D were doing a good job of clearing guys out in front of me, so it made it a lot easier.”
At the other end, the Huskies did a good job of keeping the puck out of their zone and the Tommies couldn’t generate much offense. As a result, the score stayed 2-0 going into the third.
In the third, the Tommies appeared to take control of the game. UST captain Lucas Wahlin made it 3-0 at 5:37 on a quick shot from the slot, and then at the 10:18, Casy Laylin made it 4-0. Tommies. UST’s Quinton Pepper slid the puck across the crease to a waiting Laylin, who tapped it past Manzella.
The Huskies got one goal back after pulling Manzella for the extra attacker as Elias Jansson beat a sprawling Sibell at 14:19 to make it 4-1 and then with the net empty again, Rylan Brown blasted a shot top shelf to cut the deficit to 4-2 at 15:51. At 17:40, Tech trimmed the Tommies’ lead to 4-3 on a power play/extra attacker goal by Logan Morrell, but the Tommies weathered the surge with Sibell making a huge kick save on a shot by Tech’s Chase Pietila with six seconds left.
“I think we played good enough to win the whole night,” Sibell said. “That little push at the end, obviously they’re going to have that, it’s the end of the year, but we just beared down. At the end of the day, you’ve got to play the whole game, not just the last 10 minutes. I feel like we did what we had to do to win and the final score shows that.”