University of St. Thomas Athletics
Bowling Green
Game Notes -- Men's Hockey has Ohio trek to face Falcons
11/10/2022 4:50:00 PM | Men's Hockey
St. Paul, Minn. - St. Thomas Men's Hockey (2-8 overall, 1-3 CCHA) has its third road series of the season, this weekend against Bowling Green (3-7, 2-4) in Bowling Green, Ohio. Both Friday and Saturday's game start at 6:07 p.m. Minnesota time.
Last season, St. Thomas lost 4-2 and 3-0 at Bowling Green, believed to be the Tommie program's first games ever played in the state of Ohio. The Toms later lost on home ice to the Falcons, 4-2 and 2-1.
The Toms had several strong moments in last weekend's 7-2 and 4-3 losses to No. 6-ranked Minnesota State. Take away MSU's 5-0 edge in period three on Friday that snapped a 2-2 tie, and the Toms played the weekend's other five periods nearly even. As a first-year D-I program last season, St. Thomas was outscored 36-7 in six losses to then No. 1 or 2-ranked Mavericks.
Bowling Green also lost two competitive games recently to Minnesota State, 3-2 in overtime and 4-2. The Falcons -- picked for third in the CCHA after a 15-19-3 record last season -- have four one-goal losses, two in overtime. They have splits with Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan, and are 1-3 at home this season.
It's a Homecoming this weekend for Tommie senior Garrett Daly, a transfer from Bowling Green. A Lakeville, Minn., native, Daly played in 88 games with the Falcons over the previous three seasons (one goal, six assists). He played in three games last season against the Toms, skating against several current Tommie teammates.
Follow
Friday's live video can be accessed HERE:
The games can be heard live on SkorNorth AM 1500 (HERE via computer):
Friday's game will have live stats that can be accessed HERE:
Did You Know?
- Six of the Toms' eight losses have come vs. top-15 ranked Penn State, St. Cloud State and Minnesota State.
- Eight different players have recorded the Purple's last 10 goals.
- Lucas Wahlin had scored a point in six consecutive games before getting blanked in both games last weekend. Fellow freshman Ryan O'Neill, who had three assists Oct. 29 at Ferris State, has scored in five of his last eight contests.
- Last season (36 games), the Toms were outscored by a near 3-to-1 margin, 167-61. In this season's 10 games the Purple have been outscored 38-22.
- The Toms rank 16th in fewest penalty minutes (10.7 a game).
- Cooper Gay was playing in just his fourth college game Oct. 28 when he scored twice against MSU. He joined a short list of Toms to record a two-goal game.
- The Toms had their third sellout crowd of the season Oct. 28 (961 spectators), a program record in the 20-year run at the STA rink.
Poised Performers
Freshman Aaron Trotter ranks in the top 20 nationally among all D-I goalies in most minutes played (485) and in total saves (225 in seven contests).
Quoting Coach Rico Blasi
"Our expectations are always at a high level. That means coming to the rink and you're taking nothing for granted. You're working hard everyday to get better. You don't rest on what you did the day before. We can't focus on tomorrow until we take care of today. To me, everyday is special. To me, everyday is an opportunity for us to get better."
Close Calls
The Purple have 16 losses by one or two goals so far in the D-I era (five so far this season). St. Thomas is 3-7 in one-goal decisions, and 0-9 in games decided by two goals in its two-season D-I era.
Tommie Talk
St. Thomas went 3-32-1 last season in year one of Division I, but the Purple showed marked improvement over the last half of the season. Their won-loss record included eight losses to teams ranked No. 1 or 2 in the national polls; 13 losses by one- or two-goal margins; and three overtime defeats.
He's the Coach
Rico Blasi is the 25th head coach since 1920 for Tommie Men's Hockey. Two of our coaches rank in the top 50 all-time for wins among all college hockey coaches. Terry Skrypek had a 23-year run with St. Thomas and won 415 games from 1987-2010 to rank 45th on the elite list. Blasi is close behind at No. 50.
Rico coached 20 seasons at Miami (Ohio) and is now in season two here with the Tommies. Blasi ranks 17th among all active men's coaches and 12th among active D-I head coaches with his 403 wins.
Roster Talk
Blasi has 11 returning players and 17 newcomers. The team scored 61 goals last season in 36 games (32 by 2022-23 returners).
The Toms' talented recruiting and transfer class led to 16 new faces cracking the lineup in the opening weekend. This year's team includes 20 native Minnesotans, five out-of-state natives, and three Canadian players.
Tommie D-I Era, Most Games Scoring a Point
#8-Cameron Recchi, 13
#16-Luke Manning, 12
#9-Matthew Jennings and #2-Trevor Zins, 10
#4-Nolan Sawchuk, 9
#12-Tim Piechowski, 8
#3-Lucas Wahlin and #11-Ryan O'Neill, 6
Breakthrough
The Oct. 8 win was the Toms' first of the D-I era when trailing after two periods, ending an 0-29 string. Twice last season the Toms rallied after a 40:00 deficit to force overtime but were unable to complete the comeback with a win.The Oct. 8 win also was first overtime victory of the Division I era (1-5-1 in the D-I era in 3-on-3 overtime results).
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