Historic night in the Heights

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – St. Thomas Men's Hockey (7-10-4 overall, 4-6-3 CCHA) won its third game in a row and fourth in its last five with program-record nine goals over the Ferris State Bulldogs (6-13-2 overall, 5-8-0 CCHA) on Friday night at Saint Thomas Ice Arena.

Six different Tommies recorded three-point nights but the headliner was Liam Malmquist's first career collegiate hat trick. It was the second in program history behind Mack Byers' last season also against Ferris State. The Toms set a new high water mark with nine goals to best their two previous tallies in program history of seven goals, each against Ferris State.

Overall, there were 15 goals in the game, with a final score of 9-6.

Goal Recap
First Period

1-0 UST; 1:47 – Ryan O'Neill blasted his third goal of the season after the Bulldogs took a very early penalty. The CCHA's best power play did not disappoint on its first opportunity. Lucas Wahlin assisted on the goal with a clean win of an offensive zone face-off.
2-0 UST; 3:13 – Ferris State's undisciplined play led to another opportunity for the Toms, a penalty shot just minutes after their first goal. Lucas Wahlin lined up his shot and with a quick pull of the trigger, bested the Bulldog netminder. It was the first penalty shot goal for the Tommies since Matthew Jennings scored one on 1/28/23 at Arizona State.
2-1 UST; 6:27 – The visitors scored on their third shot of the game to halve the Tommie lead.
3-1 UST; 8:56 – Liam Malmquist potted his first of three goals with a power play score on a wild seeing-eye shot through traffic from the high slot. Cooper Gay and Chase Foley were each credited with an assist on the goal.
3-2 UST; 9:27 – FSU answered back again, this time just 31 seconds later and on their second consecutive shot on goal. Aaron Trotter was pulled from the game with two goals allowed on four shots, Jake Sibell took over in goal.
4-2 UST; 9:58 – Cooper Gay scored the second goal of the 10^th minute and sixth goal in the first half of the first period. Caige Sterzer passed the puck from below the goal line and Gay played it in the low slot, first with his right skate, and then with his stick for his team-leading 10^th goal of the season. Jake Braccini was also credited with an assist.
5-2 UST; 11:29 – Liam Malmquist struck once again on the power play, this time on a screaming one-time shot from the right circle. Chase Foley fed Malmquist with a perfect cross-ice pass through the slot for his second assist of the game. O'Neill tallied his second point of the contest with an assist as well. The Toms started 3-for-3 on the power play and finished 3-for-4. They lead the CCHA with a 26.5 PP% and are top-10 in the NCAA. Malmquist became the second Tommie this season to record multiple power play goals in a single game. The Toms also scored three power play goals for the third time this season, they did so just two times between the first three seasons at the DI level.
5-3 UST; 18:36 – The Bulldogs crawled back again during the final 90 seconds of the first.
6-3 UST; 19:11 – Caige Sterzer scored the single-period program record 6^th goal of the frame for the Purple. Braccini and Gay each recorded assists on the play. Sterzer ended up with three points on the night, his first multi-point game as a Tommie.

Second Period

6-4 UST; 6:23 – Ferris State scored the only goal of the second period. They also started the second with a new goaltender.

Third Period

6-5 UST; 1:56 – The Bulldogs made it a one-goal game for the first time since the seventh minute of the first with their only power play goal of the contest. Tobias Abrahamsson was given a major penalty and game misconduct for spearing with 15 seconds remaining in the second period.
7-5 UST; 3:43 – While attempting to kill off the major penalty, Caige Sterzer blocked a shot and took over possession of the puck. He began a two-man rush with Luc Laylin and dished a perfect pass to the junior who scored short-handed. It was St. Thomas' fifth shorthanded goal of the season and matched the program record set last year. The Toms are tied with two other teams for the most SHG in the NCAA.
8-5 UST; 5:46 – Jake Braccini intercepted a pass in the defensive end, took the puck coast-to-coast, and scored his third goal of the season to restore a three-goal Tommie lead. He too, finished off a three-point night.
8-6 UST; 13:44 – The Bulldogs scored their final goal of the night.
9-6 UST; 19:06 – Liam Malmquist recorded the first hat trick of his career and second in program history on a center-ice shot towards Ferris State's empty net. Wahlin and Foley each assisted on the play. All three players finished the game with three points. For Wahlin, his trio of points pushed him to 70 for his career making him the first Tommie to do so. It was the first three-point game of Chase Foley's career and pushed him to 13 points on the season, a new single-season program record among Tommie defensemen.

Up Next
The Tommies return home for a conference series with the Ferris State Bulldogs Saturday, January 11 at 6:07 p.m. It is their first CCHA series of the new year as they look to extend their first win streak of the season to four games.

Next Event

Team Stats

Liam Malmquist

Cooper Gay

Caige Sterzer

Lucas Wahlin

Players Mentioned

Tobias Abrahamsson

Jake Braccini

Mack Byers

Chase Foley

Cooper Gay

Luc Laylin

Liam Malmquist

Ryan O'Neill

Jake Sibell

Caige Sterzer

Aaron Trotter

Lucas Wahlin

University of St. Thomas Athletics