University of St. Thomas Athletics
Men's Hockey takes comeback win over No. 13-ranked Huskies, 3-2
1/14/2023 10:57:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Houghton, Mich. -- Freshman Luc Laylin's goal with 3:33 left in regulation time sent Tommie Men's Hockey to a 3-2 comeback victory over No. 13-ranked Michigan Tech in Saturday night's CCHA contest.
The Purple (6-15-1 overall, 5-10-1 CCHA) took their first D-I victory over a nationally-ranked team. They also secured their first victory over MTU in eight tries, and gained a split in the weekend series.
Coach Rico Blasi's team rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 and handed the Huskies just their second home loss of the season.
The Toms have now taken points in four consecutive conference series and are 4-3-1 in their last eight contests.
Freshman Aaron Trotter stopped 27 of 29 shots Saturday and stopped 63 of 66 shots on the weekend. The Toms were tied 0-0 in Friday's game into the final 12:00 before allowing a go-ahead goal and an empty-net score to fall 2-0.
Josh Eernisse scored the tying goal late in period two, and later added an assist on Laylin's go-ahead score. Carson Peters assisted on two goals, and Jake Braccini also scored the opening goal for the Purple.
Quoting Coach Blasi
"This was a signature win, that was a lot of fun. Our guys played their butts off. It was a big goal by Jake Braccini to get us going. In the second period (we had our) best 10-minute stretch that we've played all year, and the third period was outstanding. It was a great play by (Josh) Eernisse to (Luc) Laylin. A great team effort, I could feel it this morning, the guys were rallying around each other. I was proud of them.
"All three goals (we scored) off the face offs, that's a designed play off the D-zone faceoff. Details matter, everything's got to be with a purpose. Our guys are buying into that. Every play matters, there are so many little plays that happen in a game, you have to make sure especially when you start from a set position. It's the only time we can set plays up. Just a great goal from Jake to start. Guys were in the right routes and we got a bounce and all the sudden we had the two-on-one
"I'm really happy with the (total) effort, (on defense) we didn't give them a sniff the last three minutes. It was a fun night for the Tommies.
"Every win is special. You have to feel good about every win, and you have to feel like you can do it every night. When we come on the ice, we know we can win games. We want to normalize that."
Next Up
St. Thomas is home to play Bowling Green next Thursday and Friday nights in Mendota Heights. Puck drop each night in 7:07 p.m
The Purple (6-15-1 overall, 5-10-1 CCHA) took their first D-I victory over a nationally-ranked team. They also secured their first victory over MTU in eight tries, and gained a split in the weekend series.
Coach Rico Blasi's team rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 and handed the Huskies just their second home loss of the season.
The Toms have now taken points in four consecutive conference series and are 4-3-1 in their last eight contests.
Freshman Aaron Trotter stopped 27 of 29 shots Saturday and stopped 63 of 66 shots on the weekend. The Toms were tied 0-0 in Friday's game into the final 12:00 before allowing a go-ahead goal and an empty-net score to fall 2-0.
Josh Eernisse scored the tying goal late in period two, and later added an assist on Laylin's go-ahead score. Carson Peters assisted on two goals, and Jake Braccini also scored the opening goal for the Purple.
Quoting Coach Blasi
"This was a signature win, that was a lot of fun. Our guys played their butts off. It was a big goal by Jake Braccini to get us going. In the second period (we had our) best 10-minute stretch that we've played all year, and the third period was outstanding. It was a great play by (Josh) Eernisse to (Luc) Laylin. A great team effort, I could feel it this morning, the guys were rallying around each other. I was proud of them.
"All three goals (we scored) off the face offs, that's a designed play off the D-zone faceoff. Details matter, everything's got to be with a purpose. Our guys are buying into that. Every play matters, there are so many little plays that happen in a game, you have to make sure especially when you start from a set position. It's the only time we can set plays up. Just a great goal from Jake to start. Guys were in the right routes and we got a bounce and all the sudden we had the two-on-one
"I'm really happy with the (total) effort, (on defense) we didn't give them a sniff the last three minutes. It was a fun night for the Tommies.
"Every win is special. You have to feel good about every win, and you have to feel like you can do it every night. When we come on the ice, we know we can win games. We want to normalize that."
Next Up
St. Thomas is home to play Bowling Green next Thursday and Friday nights in Mendota Heights. Puck drop each night in 7:07 p.m
Team Stats
UST
MTU
Shots
22
29
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
1
2
Penalty Mins
2
4
Faceoffs Won
29
19
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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