By Ryan Stieg
ST. PAUL, Minn. — After starting off their season with a faceplant on Friday, the St. Thomas men’s hockey team had a much better performance Saturday.
The Tommies got a third period goal from Augustana transfer Quinn Rudrud in the third period and then an empty netter from star Lucas Van Vliet to notch their first win of the season, 4-2 over Air Force. Freshman goalie Ajay White made 24 saves in his first collegiate start to get his first victory.
“I thought we were more direct today from the moment the puck dropped in the first period, which was part of our game plan, and it showed in the first period,” UST head coach Rico Blasi said. “We had really good legs and we knew where the puck was going, so we were anticipating that. The PK in the second period was huge. I thought we did a great job and I’m not sure they got a shot on net to be honest with you. These tight games are the games where your young guys grow the most. They’re not great for the coach on the bench having to deal with it, but we needed our veterans to come out tonight and lead the way, and I thought they did.”
“It was a step in the right direction,” Tommies co-captain Chase Cheslock added. “We took this morning really seriously in our film (session) and went over those things that I talked about last night that don’t show up on the stat sheet. We really put an emphasis on those tonight and it really showed up for us in the end.”
Last night, the Tommies fell behind the Falcons 3-0 and didn’t generate any quality scoring chances until the third period. The rematch was a different story as UST got a few good looks down low in the first and put some pressure on AF goalie Dominik Wasik. However, they couldn’t get on the scoreboard, and it was 0-0 after the first period. White also made some key saves in the period and pleased Blasi during his debut.
“I thought he was solid and real calm,” Blasi said. “He’s been committed here for a few years, so I’m sure it feels really good for him to be in the net. I thought he played the puck really well too. He probably wants that second one back, that short sider, but other than that, I thought he was solid.”
Just 46 seconds into the second period, UST did get on the board thanks to a lucky bounce. Tommies defensemen Mason Poolman sent a shot on net that was originally saved by Wasik, but the puck squirted through his legs and forward David Rozsival tapped it into the open net to put UST up 1-0.
The Falcons answered back again at the 7:37 mark on a goal by Oliver Genest. AF defenseman Ren Morque sent a cross-ice pass to a waiting Genest, who tapped it past White to tie the score at 1-1.
AF looked to be on the cusp of grabbing its first lead as the Falcons were given a major power play thanks to a cross checking call on Jakub Altrichter. However, the Tommies fought their way through it and killed off the penalty with ease.
“I think we just stuck together as a group and said this is going to be a turning point in the game, and we doubled down on it,” Cheslock said. “Our mentality going into that kill was right where it needed to be. So, I was really proud of the group for that.”
UST snatched the lead back with 22 seconds left in the period thanks to a goal by Cheslock. The defenseman skated hard toward the net and got a pass in front of the net from Kevin Anderson before beating Wasik low to give the Tommies a 2-1 advantage.
However, AF didn’t go away. At 2:47 in the third, the Falcons tied things up at 2-2 thanks to a power play tally by Cole Christian. The Tommies weren’t shaken though. At the 14:13 mark, Nathan Pilling sent a pass from behind the net to the slot where a waiting Rudrud one-timed the puck past Wasik right after a UST power play expired to put the Tommies back up at 3-2. Four minutes later, Van Vliet capped off the victory with his empty netter.
“Obviously, it was a great pass, and it felt nice to finally get one there,” Rudrud said. “It felt like I was kind of getting abused out there for a little bit, so to draw that penalty and then ultimately cap it off felt really nice.”
UST is off next week before playing rival Minnesota State in a home-and home series Oct. 23-24, and Cheslock thinks the time off will benefit the team.
“We totally trust in what our coaches are going to throw at us these next two weeks to be prepared for our next game,” he said. “Obviously, this weekend, we saw what we needed to work on and hopefully when we come out of this bye week, we’ll be really sharp.”