University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, November 24
Mendota Heights, Minn.
7:07 p.m. Central
vs
Lake Superior State
Photo by: Wesley Dean
Men’s Hockey looks to defend home ice and win streak against Lake Superior State
11/23/2023 11:23:00 AM | Men's Hockey
The Tommies have won four games in a row, their longest streak in DI program history, they have outscored opponents 18-7 with two wins at home and two on the road.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of St. Thomas Men's Hockey team is on its best run in its short Division I history with four wins in a row and a 5-2-1 record in its last eight games. The Tommies (6-5-1, CCHA 4-2-0) welcome in the Lake Superior State Lakers (6-6-0, CCHA 3-3-0) for a pair of Thanksgiving week conference contests in Mendota Heights.
The Lakers are just three wins shy of their entire total from a season ago and snapped a season-long three game skid with a 4-3 win at home against the Bowling Green Falcons. They are just four points behind the second-place Tommies and five points out of first place. A large part of their hot start to the season has been the play of senior Jared Westcott who currently leads the country with 22 points in 12 games. Westcott had 13 points in 32 games last season, he surpassed that in 10 games this year.
St. Thomas took three of their four games against Lake State last season with a sweep on home ice (4-0 and 2-1) and a split in Sault Ste. Marie with a 2-1 loss and a 2-1 win. St. Thomas' goaltender, Aaron Trotter started in all three games against the Lakers and finished the season series with a 3-1-0 record. He made 97 saves with a .960 save percentage and a stellar one goals against average. Trotter recorded the Tommies' only shutout in program history last season against the Lakers.
Jared Westcott added just one goal against the Toms last season. Luke Manning is the only returning Tommie with more than one goal scored against LSSU, he has three.
Ethan Langenegger has taken over the primary goaltending duties for the Lakers this season. He has made 11 starts and has a 3.14 goals against average and a .904 save percentage with 319 saves made. He was part of a goaltending tandem that included Seth Eisele the last two seasons in which the Tommies have been in the CCHA. Langenegger has been tremendous in four starts against St. Thomas in his career. He has a 3-1 record with 127 saves, a .962 save percentage and a 1.26 goals against average while playing against the Purple.
Trotter returns to form
Aaron Trotter has been in net for two of his team's last four wins and he was an integral part of their first win last Friday against Bowling Green.
Trotter was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week for his 42 saves against the Falcons. The sophomore goalie propelled his team to victory despite being outshot 43-23. Only a power-play goal got by the second year netminder.
This is the fourth time Trotter has been named the Goaltender of the Week. He is the fifth Tommie to be awarded a CCHA weekly honor this season joining Luke Manning, Liam Malmquist, Lucas Wahlin, and fellow goaltender Jake Sibell.
The goalie tandem of Trotter and Sibell have combined for a CCHA-leading 2.56 goals against average and .907 save percentage.
Top Tommies
Positive Thinking
The Tommies were the most improved team in the country from their first year of Division I (3-32-1) to their second (11-23-2) and are now on track to be the most improved yet again while on pace for around 19-20 wins.
Even while improving eight wins year-over-year the Toms finished the 2022-23 season with a team plus-minus of -129. That team had just three players who earned a positive rating over 36 games, Mack Byers at +5, Trevor LeDonne at +4 and Ethan Gauer with a +1.
Early on in this third season at the DI level, the Toms are at +72 as a team with 19 players with a positive rating. They have seven with at least a +5 and are led by Quinton Pepper and James Marooney with +7 ratings.
The Lakers are just three wins shy of their entire total from a season ago and snapped a season-long three game skid with a 4-3 win at home against the Bowling Green Falcons. They are just four points behind the second-place Tommies and five points out of first place. A large part of their hot start to the season has been the play of senior Jared Westcott who currently leads the country with 22 points in 12 games. Westcott had 13 points in 32 games last season, he surpassed that in 10 games this year.
St. Thomas took three of their four games against Lake State last season with a sweep on home ice (4-0 and 2-1) and a split in Sault Ste. Marie with a 2-1 loss and a 2-1 win. St. Thomas' goaltender, Aaron Trotter started in all three games against the Lakers and finished the season series with a 3-1-0 record. He made 97 saves with a .960 save percentage and a stellar one goals against average. Trotter recorded the Tommies' only shutout in program history last season against the Lakers.
Jared Westcott added just one goal against the Toms last season. Luke Manning is the only returning Tommie with more than one goal scored against LSSU, he has three.
Ethan Langenegger has taken over the primary goaltending duties for the Lakers this season. He has made 11 starts and has a 3.14 goals against average and a .904 save percentage with 319 saves made. He was part of a goaltending tandem that included Seth Eisele the last two seasons in which the Tommies have been in the CCHA. Langenegger has been tremendous in four starts against St. Thomas in his career. He has a 3-1 record with 127 saves, a .962 save percentage and a 1.26 goals against average while playing against the Purple.
Trotter returns to form
Aaron Trotter has been in net for two of his team's last four wins and he was an integral part of their first win last Friday against Bowling Green.
Trotter was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week for his 42 saves against the Falcons. The sophomore goalie propelled his team to victory despite being outshot 43-23. Only a power-play goal got by the second year netminder.
This is the fourth time Trotter has been named the Goaltender of the Week. He is the fifth Tommie to be awarded a CCHA weekly honor this season joining Luke Manning, Liam Malmquist, Lucas Wahlin, and fellow goaltender Jake Sibell.
The goalie tandem of Trotter and Sibell have combined for a CCHA-leading 2.56 goals against average and .907 save percentage.
Top Tommies
- Noah Prokop is currently sixth in the country with 146 faceoff wins, Luke Manning is 47th with 107.
- The Tommies have six different players with one game winning goal this season: Ryder Donovan, Lucas Wahlin, Cooper Gay, Quinton Pepper, Noah Prokop, and Luc Laylin.
- Jake Sibell's .600 win percentage is 26th in the country.
- Sibell's 1.62 goals against average is third in the nation and his .933 save percentage ranks fifth.
- St. Thomas ranks 28th in the nation with a .511 faceoff win percentage, up from .476 last season.
- The Toms have the 19th lowest goals against average in the country (2.58). They also rank 19th in scoring margin at .50 per game. Their offense has picked up lately as well with a 28th ranked 3.08 goals per game.
- They have nearly as many shorthanded goals (3) as they do power play goals (4), this season. Their three shorties lead the CCHA and rank 7th in the country.
- St. Thomas is one of just 28 teams above .500 with about two-thirds of the season remaining.
Positive Thinking
The Tommies were the most improved team in the country from their first year of Division I (3-32-1) to their second (11-23-2) and are now on track to be the most improved yet again while on pace for around 19-20 wins.
Even while improving eight wins year-over-year the Toms finished the 2022-23 season with a team plus-minus of -129. That team had just three players who earned a positive rating over 36 games, Mack Byers at +5, Trevor LeDonne at +4 and Ethan Gauer with a +1.
Early on in this third season at the DI level, the Toms are at +72 as a team with 19 players with a positive rating. They have seven with at least a +5 and are led by Quinton Pepper and James Marooney with +7 ratings.
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