University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, December 29
Burlington, Vt. / Gutterson Fieldhouse
6:00 p.m. Central
at
Vermont
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Men’s Hockey returns to play for second half road trip in Vermont
12/27/2023 10:39:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The Tommies and Catamounts will play this weekend for the first time in their programs’ histories, both teams return from the break with records at or above .500.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of St. Thomas Men's Hockey team (9-8-1, 7-5-0 CCHA) returns to the ice for the first time after the holiday break. The Tommies will head to the northeast to play the Catamounts of Vermont (7-7-1, 3-4-1 Hockey East) for the first time in program history.
Game one will take place on Friday at 6 p.m. central standard time at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vt. The puck drops at 4 p.m. CST for game two on Saturday, both games can be viewed on ESPN+ and heard on ESPN 1500 locally.
Last Time Out
The Tommies bounced back after a game one loss with their first regulation victory over the Minnesota State Mavericks in the program's short Division I history. Both home teams pulled out the CCHA victories and earned the three conference points.
Special teams were the name of the game in game one of the series in Mankato. The Mavericks scored two power play goals sandwiched around a Toms' shorthanded goal in the first period. Lucas Wahlin was assessed a five-minute major penalty 9:38 into the contest and it took Mankato just one shot in 17 seconds to open the scoring.
While still on the major penalty kill, Mack Byers intercepted a Mankato pass and with no one to beat on the rush sent one by the Mavs goaltender to tie the game at 11:24. Mankato answered with the game winning goal 56 seconds later.
Mankato scored a dagger after 19:49 of a very tightly contested second period. Neither team added another in the final frame. Aaron Trotter made 21 saves on 24 shots and allowed just one even-strength goal. Mack Byer's first period shorthanded goal is the second shortie of the year for the fifth year. He is now the first Tommie in the DI era with two shorthanded goals in the same season. His first opened the Toms scoring at the Xcel Energy Center against Minnesota in October.
Before the Toms' 2-1 home win in regulation against Mankato on Dec. 9 they had gone 11 games without a win in three periods over the Mavericks. It was looking like it would stay that way through two periods and 13 minutes. The visitors got one goal by Jacob Sibell in the second period and carried a 1-0 deep into the third.
MSU's goaltender Keenan Rancier stopped the first 25 shots he faced until 13:28 in the final frame when Luc Laylin picked up a rebound and finished the job around the crease for his fourth of the season. Just one shot and three minutes later, Noah Prokop scored the game winning goal, his second game winner of the season.
Sibell and the Purple defense fended off a lengthy extra-man attack and saved or blocked six shots in the final two and a half minutes. The Toms' netminder stopped 28 of 29 shots and locked up his fifth win of the season in nine starts.
The Chase is on
Head Coach Rico Blasi and his staff have called in the services of first-year Chase Cheslock out of Rogers, Minn. The 6-3 defenseman is expected to suit up for his first two collegiate games this weekend after 30 games across two seasons for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL.
Cheslock was a two-year captain of his Rogers High School team and the captain this past season for Omaha. He added 13 points in 30 games at the junior hockey level.
He is the Toms' first NHL draftee after his selection by the New Jersey Devils in the fifth round of this past year's draft. Cheslock also played one game for the U.S. National U18 Team (NTDP), the first Tommie to do so.
He will wear number 26.
Super Sibell
Isanti, Minn. native Jacob Sibell continues to lead the nation in both goals against average and save percentage.
His 1.65 goals against average is nearly two tenths lower than any other netminder in the country. Austin Roden of Clarkson is second behind Sibell with a 1.81 GAA. Gabe Carriere of Vermont is 18th in the nation at 2.33. The next lowest CCHA goaltender is Ferris State's Logan Stein (35th, 2.64).
Sibell's .940 save percentage is also at the top of the pile across the entire nation. Austin Roden of Clarkson and Ryan Bischel from Notre Dame have each tallied a .932 and sit second behind Sibell. Vermont's Gabe Carriere is 12th with a .920. Logan Stein's .919 is 14th in the country.
While at Niagara the junior did not have a season with a goals against average below 3.55 or a save percentage above .885. He has already more than doubled his win total with the Toms as well, he earned two victories in 13 starts for the Purple Eagles and has five wins in nine starts for St. Thomas.
Sibell has put up these kinds of numbers before while with the Aberdeen Wings of the NAHL. The then, 21-year-old made 47 appearances for the Wings with a 43-2-1 record in the regular season. His 1.19 goals against average and .952 save percentage earned him NAHL Goaltender of the Year and Most Valuable Player. Sibell's success continued into the playoffs with a 8-2-1 record and 1.93 GAA and .929 SV%.
Game one will take place on Friday at 6 p.m. central standard time at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vt. The puck drops at 4 p.m. CST for game two on Saturday, both games can be viewed on ESPN+ and heard on ESPN 1500 locally.
Last Time Out
The Tommies bounced back after a game one loss with their first regulation victory over the Minnesota State Mavericks in the program's short Division I history. Both home teams pulled out the CCHA victories and earned the three conference points.
Special teams were the name of the game in game one of the series in Mankato. The Mavericks scored two power play goals sandwiched around a Toms' shorthanded goal in the first period. Lucas Wahlin was assessed a five-minute major penalty 9:38 into the contest and it took Mankato just one shot in 17 seconds to open the scoring.
While still on the major penalty kill, Mack Byers intercepted a Mankato pass and with no one to beat on the rush sent one by the Mavs goaltender to tie the game at 11:24. Mankato answered with the game winning goal 56 seconds later.
Mankato scored a dagger after 19:49 of a very tightly contested second period. Neither team added another in the final frame. Aaron Trotter made 21 saves on 24 shots and allowed just one even-strength goal. Mack Byer's first period shorthanded goal is the second shortie of the year for the fifth year. He is now the first Tommie in the DI era with two shorthanded goals in the same season. His first opened the Toms scoring at the Xcel Energy Center against Minnesota in October.
Before the Toms' 2-1 home win in regulation against Mankato on Dec. 9 they had gone 11 games without a win in three periods over the Mavericks. It was looking like it would stay that way through two periods and 13 minutes. The visitors got one goal by Jacob Sibell in the second period and carried a 1-0 deep into the third.
MSU's goaltender Keenan Rancier stopped the first 25 shots he faced until 13:28 in the final frame when Luc Laylin picked up a rebound and finished the job around the crease for his fourth of the season. Just one shot and three minutes later, Noah Prokop scored the game winning goal, his second game winner of the season.
Sibell and the Purple defense fended off a lengthy extra-man attack and saved or blocked six shots in the final two and a half minutes. The Toms' netminder stopped 28 of 29 shots and locked up his fifth win of the season in nine starts.
The Chase is on
Head Coach Rico Blasi and his staff have called in the services of first-year Chase Cheslock out of Rogers, Minn. The 6-3 defenseman is expected to suit up for his first two collegiate games this weekend after 30 games across two seasons for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL.
Cheslock was a two-year captain of his Rogers High School team and the captain this past season for Omaha. He added 13 points in 30 games at the junior hockey level.
He is the Toms' first NHL draftee after his selection by the New Jersey Devils in the fifth round of this past year's draft. Cheslock also played one game for the U.S. National U18 Team (NTDP), the first Tommie to do so.
He will wear number 26.
Super Sibell
Isanti, Minn. native Jacob Sibell continues to lead the nation in both goals against average and save percentage.
His 1.65 goals against average is nearly two tenths lower than any other netminder in the country. Austin Roden of Clarkson is second behind Sibell with a 1.81 GAA. Gabe Carriere of Vermont is 18th in the nation at 2.33. The next lowest CCHA goaltender is Ferris State's Logan Stein (35th, 2.64).
Sibell's .940 save percentage is also at the top of the pile across the entire nation. Austin Roden of Clarkson and Ryan Bischel from Notre Dame have each tallied a .932 and sit second behind Sibell. Vermont's Gabe Carriere is 12th with a .920. Logan Stein's .919 is 14th in the country.
While at Niagara the junior did not have a season with a goals against average below 3.55 or a save percentage above .885. He has already more than doubled his win total with the Toms as well, he earned two victories in 13 starts for the Purple Eagles and has five wins in nine starts for St. Thomas.
Sibell has put up these kinds of numbers before while with the Aberdeen Wings of the NAHL. The then, 21-year-old made 47 appearances for the Wings with a 43-2-1 record in the regular season. His 1.19 goals against average and .952 save percentage earned him NAHL Goaltender of the Year and Most Valuable Player. Sibell's success continued into the playoffs with a 8-2-1 record and 1.93 GAA and .929 SV%.
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