University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, December 16
Mendota Heights, Minn.
7:07 p.m. Central
5-13-1, 4-8-1
7
vs
4
Ferris State
7-8-2, 5-5-1
1
2
3
F
Ferris St.
1
3
0
4
St. Thomas (MN)
2
4
1
7
Team Stats
FSU
UST
Shots
35
37
PPG
0
2
SHG
0
0
Penalties
5
6
Penalty Mins
10
15
Faceoffs Won
35
31
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
3
+/-
1
Goals
2
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
2
Sh
5
A
0
+/-
2
Goals
2
Sh
4
A
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's Hockey
G
/ Men's Hockey
Photo by: Wesley Dean
Men's Hockey takes 7-4 win over Ferris State
12/16/2022 10:34:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Mendota Heights, Minn. -- Tommie Men's Hockey rode an opportunistic offense and a stingy penalty kill Friday night on home ice en route to a 7-4 win over Ferris State in CCHA play at Saint Thomas Ice Arena.
The Purple (5-13-1 overall, 4-8-1 CCHA) improved to 3-1-1 over their last five games.
The team's seven goals, capped by Josh Eernisse's empty-net goal in the last minute, set a Tommie D-I single-game scoring record, breaking the old mark of five recorded once last season and once previously this year.
Mack Byers posted his third consecutive two-goal game. Eernisse and Luke Manning also scored two goals apiece, and Jake Braccini chipped in one goal and three assists.
Freshman goalie Aaron Trotter recorded 31 saves including all 17 Ferris shots in period three. Trotter and his teammates killed off all six FSU power-play tries, including a 5:00 major penalty in period two. The Toms converted 3-of-5 on their power-play chances.
Quoting Coach Rico Blasi
"I thought our special teams played a big difference tonight. In the third period I thought we did a good job doing the little things and the details, making high-percentage plays. We had to kill off four penalties, that's a part of the game, you have to be ready to go. We knew they were going to get a couple of (scoring) opportunities after the second period. It's just another step in the growth of our team and how we play.
"(Ferris is) a good team, they come after you, they play hard, they are physical. If you are not ready to play that kind of game they are going to beat you. I thought our guys did a good job of understanding that tonight and playing our game.
"(We have) a new team (from last year), we have 17 new guys, we don't sit there and compare to last year... Now if you ask me (what is different) from the beginning of this year, I think our guys are starting to feel like they can make plays, like they belong... A lot of times when you are growing like this, and everybody's talking about being close (on the scoreboard) and those moral victories that you guys continue to ask me about. We're not about moral victories because we feel like we can play. And we have to go out and play. We're here. We're not Cinderella story. We're here. You have to play... Really, it's a mindset. Are we in our second year in existence as a Division I? Yes. But that's not what we talk about. We talk about how we are going to get better.... Our guys are starting to play together and starting to understand how to play with confidence. We still have a long way to go, don't get me wrong, but the guys are stating to do a good job with that."
Next Up
The teams close out the weekend series Saturday with a 6:07 p.m. puck drop here on the Toms' home ice.
Saturday is St. Thomas' final game of the 2022 calendar year. The Purple travel to Duluth on Dec. 31 to play a 2 p.m. exhibition game against the UMD Bulldogs. They resume CCHA play Jan. 13-14 at Michigan Tech.
Did You Know?
Senior captain Matthew Jennings returned to the ice Friday after a 10-game injury layoff. He was in the lineup for the first eight games of the season but last played on Oct. 29.
The empty-net goal was St. Thomas' 50th goal of the season.
The Purple (5-13-1 overall, 4-8-1 CCHA) improved to 3-1-1 over their last five games.
The team's seven goals, capped by Josh Eernisse's empty-net goal in the last minute, set a Tommie D-I single-game scoring record, breaking the old mark of five recorded once last season and once previously this year.
Mack Byers posted his third consecutive two-goal game. Eernisse and Luke Manning also scored two goals apiece, and Jake Braccini chipped in one goal and three assists.
Freshman goalie Aaron Trotter recorded 31 saves including all 17 Ferris shots in period three. Trotter and his teammates killed off all six FSU power-play tries, including a 5:00 major penalty in period two. The Toms converted 3-of-5 on their power-play chances.
Quoting Coach Rico Blasi
"I thought our special teams played a big difference tonight. In the third period I thought we did a good job doing the little things and the details, making high-percentage plays. We had to kill off four penalties, that's a part of the game, you have to be ready to go. We knew they were going to get a couple of (scoring) opportunities after the second period. It's just another step in the growth of our team and how we play.
"(Ferris is) a good team, they come after you, they play hard, they are physical. If you are not ready to play that kind of game they are going to beat you. I thought our guys did a good job of understanding that tonight and playing our game.
"(We have) a new team (from last year), we have 17 new guys, we don't sit there and compare to last year... Now if you ask me (what is different) from the beginning of this year, I think our guys are starting to feel like they can make plays, like they belong... A lot of times when you are growing like this, and everybody's talking about being close (on the scoreboard) and those moral victories that you guys continue to ask me about. We're not about moral victories because we feel like we can play. And we have to go out and play. We're here. We're not Cinderella story. We're here. You have to play... Really, it's a mindset. Are we in our second year in existence as a Division I? Yes. But that's not what we talk about. We talk about how we are going to get better.... Our guys are starting to play together and starting to understand how to play with confidence. We still have a long way to go, don't get me wrong, but the guys are stating to do a good job with that."
Next Up
The teams close out the weekend series Saturday with a 6:07 p.m. puck drop here on the Toms' home ice.
Saturday is St. Thomas' final game of the 2022 calendar year. The Purple travel to Duluth on Dec. 31 to play a 2 p.m. exhibition game against the UMD Bulldogs. They resume CCHA play Jan. 13-14 at Michigan Tech.
Did You Know?
Senior captain Matthew Jennings returned to the ice Friday after a 10-game injury layoff. He was in the lineup for the first eight games of the season but last played on Oct. 29.
The empty-net goal was St. Thomas' 50th goal of the season.
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