University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, October 1
Mendota Heights, Minn.
6:07 p.m. Central
0-1-0
1
vs
3
St. Cloud State
1-0-0
1
2
3
F
St. Cloud St.
3
0
0
3
St. Thomas (MN)
0
1
0
1
Team Stats
SCS
UST
Shots
23
11
PPG
1
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
5
6
Penalty Mins
10
12
Faceoffs Won
33
20
Game Leaders
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
0
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Hockey
G
/ Men's Hockey
Transfer Luke Perunovich was one of 15 newcomers in the Tommie lineup
Photo by: Wesley Dean
Big crowd, good effort, close loss for Men's Hockey
10/1/2022 9:10:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Mendota Heights, Minn. -- What a difference a year makes for Tommie Men's Hockey.
Coach Rico Blasi's second St. Thomas season started off better than his first. In their 2021-22 debut game of the Division I era, the Tommies traveled to St. Cloud and lost 12-2 in that season opener against the then No. 2-ranked SCSU squad.
Blasi's team battled all 60 minutes here Saturday night on home ice in its season-opening test, and while it took a 3-1 loss to No. 13-ranked St. Cloud State, the Purple are clearly trending in the right direction.
A sellout crowd of 960 at Saint Thomas Ice Arena enjoyed an entertaining flow of play for a season opener. There were 15 Tommie newcomers in Saturday's lineup, too, and Blasi's team got 20 saves from freshman goalie Aaron Trotter in his collegiate debut.
The Toms kept their poise after the Huskies scored three times in a 7:18 span midway through period one to take a 3-0 lead. SCSU was blanked over the last two periods, as the Toms killed four power plays over that stretch.
Tommie freshman Carson Peters scored his first college goal late in period two to cut the SCSU lead to 3-1. But St. Thomas was unable to get the score even closer, despite its high energy and hustle over the last 40:00 of the contest.
A veteran SCSU team limited St. Thomas to just 11 shots on net and killed off all four Tommie power plays.
Quoting the Coach
Rico Blasi saw many bright spots as his team responded to an early deficit against the nation's No. 13-ranked team.
"I thought our guys battled hard tonight, that was a good hockey game. (St. Cloud State) just made a couple of more plays than we did. I thought our compete level was really good. There are some things we need to clean up, obviously, on our side of the puck, but I thought our (penalty kill) was pretty good.
"All in all I was happy with our performance, especially with so many new guys in the lineup. I think it was a good hockey game. We had some really good chances in the second period to make it one-goal (game), and (Aaron) Trotter played great in the net.
"We're pleased. Obviously we have a lot work to do, but it was a good step forward... I was really happy with the way we played in spurts... But we're going to get better. This was day one of a journey... (Sunday's rematch) is another opportunity to get better, another opportunity to clean up some things and challenge ourselves to take it to another level."
Next Up
St. Thomas travels to St. Cloud for Sunday's 4 p.m. game on the Huskies' home ice, then returns home Oct. 7-8 to play two against Alaska-Fairbanks.
Did You Know?
In eight non-conference games last season, St. Thomas was outscored a combined 45-12 by St. Cloud State, Penn State, Arizona State and Alaska-Fairbanks. The Toms play six non-conference games in October to start this season and will have a chance to measure their overall progress in year two of the D-I era.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Men's Hockey, follow along on Twitter at @TommieMHockey
Coach Rico Blasi's second St. Thomas season started off better than his first. In their 2021-22 debut game of the Division I era, the Tommies traveled to St. Cloud and lost 12-2 in that season opener against the then No. 2-ranked SCSU squad.
Blasi's team battled all 60 minutes here Saturday night on home ice in its season-opening test, and while it took a 3-1 loss to No. 13-ranked St. Cloud State, the Purple are clearly trending in the right direction.
A sellout crowd of 960 at Saint Thomas Ice Arena enjoyed an entertaining flow of play for a season opener. There were 15 Tommie newcomers in Saturday's lineup, too, and Blasi's team got 20 saves from freshman goalie Aaron Trotter in his collegiate debut.
The Toms kept their poise after the Huskies scored three times in a 7:18 span midway through period one to take a 3-0 lead. SCSU was blanked over the last two periods, as the Toms killed four power plays over that stretch.
Tommie freshman Carson Peters scored his first college goal late in period two to cut the SCSU lead to 3-1. But St. Thomas was unable to get the score even closer, despite its high energy and hustle over the last 40:00 of the contest.
A veteran SCSU team limited St. Thomas to just 11 shots on net and killed off all four Tommie power plays.
Quoting the Coach
Rico Blasi saw many bright spots as his team responded to an early deficit against the nation's No. 13-ranked team.
"I thought our guys battled hard tonight, that was a good hockey game. (St. Cloud State) just made a couple of more plays than we did. I thought our compete level was really good. There are some things we need to clean up, obviously, on our side of the puck, but I thought our (penalty kill) was pretty good.
"All in all I was happy with our performance, especially with so many new guys in the lineup. I think it was a good hockey game. We had some really good chances in the second period to make it one-goal (game), and (Aaron) Trotter played great in the net.
"We're pleased. Obviously we have a lot work to do, but it was a good step forward... I was really happy with the way we played in spurts... But we're going to get better. This was day one of a journey... (Sunday's rematch) is another opportunity to get better, another opportunity to clean up some things and challenge ourselves to take it to another level."
Next Up
St. Thomas travels to St. Cloud for Sunday's 4 p.m. game on the Huskies' home ice, then returns home Oct. 7-8 to play two against Alaska-Fairbanks.
Did You Know?
In eight non-conference games last season, St. Thomas was outscored a combined 45-12 by St. Cloud State, Penn State, Arizona State and Alaska-Fairbanks. The Toms play six non-conference games in October to start this season and will have a chance to measure their overall progress in year two of the D-I era.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Men's Hockey, follow along on Twitter at @TommieMHockey
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