University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, January 17
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. / Taffy Abel Arena
6:07 p.m. Central
9-10-4, 6-6-3
4
at
3
Lake Superior State
9-13-1, 7-8-0
1
2
3
OT 1
F
St. Thomas (MN)
2
0
1
1
4
Lake Superior St.
0
2
1
0
3
Photo by: Maddie Kranz
Five in a row for Men’s Hockey; Luc Laylin with the overtime game winner
1/17/2025 9:33:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The Tommies came back from behind in the third period for the second consecutive game
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Another day and another come-from-behind victory for St. Thomas Men's Hockey (9-10-4 overall, 6-6-3 CCHA) who won its fifth consecutive game over the Lake Superior State Lakers (9-13-1, 7-8-0) by a score of 4-3 in overtime at Taffy Abel Arena on Friday night.
Caige Sterzer scored his fourth of the season from the Laylin brothers. Liam Malmquist added his NCAA-leading third shorthanded goal of the season from Lucas Wahlin. The Toms allowed three unanswered goals before Jake Braccini scored his fourth goal in five games from Mason Poolman and Cooper Gay with under two minutes to play. Luc Laylin scored the game-winning goal in overtime from Poolman, capping off two-point nights for the both of them.
Recap
The Lakers came out blazing with the game's first four shots in the first two-and-a-half minutes of play. Three of those shots were grade-A scoring chances snuffed out by Jake Sibell who made 35 saves on 38 shots faced for his third consecutive win in goal.
St. Thomas was gifted its first power play at 8:41 in the period and took advantage with three shots-on-goal and sustained offensive zone pressure. Just as the power play ended, Luc Laylin flung a puck towards the net from the blue line and deflected it off the shaft of Caige Sterzer's stick into the back of the net. The play was reviewed and the goal was confirmed for a 1-0 Tommie lead at 10:41 on Sterzer's fourth of the season.
Special teams played a role once more when the Toms went on the penalty kill at 16:43. The best offensive PK in the CCHA did it again at 16:55 with a ridiculous slap shot on the rush to pick the top-right corner from Liam Malmquist. It was the senior's 11th goal of the season and third shorthanded goal to tie the NCAA lead. The Toms killed the penalty and strolled into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.
Lake State came out with a counter punch in the second period with goals at 6:22 and 18:46, both at even strength. They outshot the Tommies 14-7 in the period and won 12 of the 22 faceoffs.
Disaster struck at 1:39 in the third when Sibell, who had otherwise had a tremendous game, failed to cover a lazily flung puck toward his net. On the most unassuming of plays, the Lakers capitalized on the error and scored to take the lead. St. Thomas did not stand down and fought back for the third time on this five-game win streak.
They matched the Lakers with 13 shots-on-goal apiece and scored the game-tying goal in the final two minutes at 18:16. Jake Braccini carried the puck into the offensive end, deked through three defenders and sniped a low shot past the goaltender to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The Tommies possessed the puck for nearly every second of the overtime period after Lucas Wahlin won the opening faceoff. They did not allow a shot toward the goal and scored on their third shot of the frame. Luc Laylin did it all by himself with a move from the forehand to the backhand and then back to the forehand with a snappy release to roof the puck just under the crossbar.
St. Thomas outshot the Lakers 40-39 in a free-flowing offensive battle. The Tommies were 0-3 on the power play and 4-4 on the penalty kill. They struggled in the circle with wins in just 26 of the 76 draws.
Tommie Tidbits
Up Next
St. Thomas looks to set a new program record with six consecutive victories tomorrow night at Taffy Abel Arena with a 5:07 p.m. CST puck drop.
Caige Sterzer scored his fourth of the season from the Laylin brothers. Liam Malmquist added his NCAA-leading third shorthanded goal of the season from Lucas Wahlin. The Toms allowed three unanswered goals before Jake Braccini scored his fourth goal in five games from Mason Poolman and Cooper Gay with under two minutes to play. Luc Laylin scored the game-winning goal in overtime from Poolman, capping off two-point nights for the both of them.
Recap
The Lakers came out blazing with the game's first four shots in the first two-and-a-half minutes of play. Three of those shots were grade-A scoring chances snuffed out by Jake Sibell who made 35 saves on 38 shots faced for his third consecutive win in goal.
St. Thomas was gifted its first power play at 8:41 in the period and took advantage with three shots-on-goal and sustained offensive zone pressure. Just as the power play ended, Luc Laylin flung a puck towards the net from the blue line and deflected it off the shaft of Caige Sterzer's stick into the back of the net. The play was reviewed and the goal was confirmed for a 1-0 Tommie lead at 10:41 on Sterzer's fourth of the season.
Special teams played a role once more when the Toms went on the penalty kill at 16:43. The best offensive PK in the CCHA did it again at 16:55 with a ridiculous slap shot on the rush to pick the top-right corner from Liam Malmquist. It was the senior's 11th goal of the season and third shorthanded goal to tie the NCAA lead. The Toms killed the penalty and strolled into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.
Lake State came out with a counter punch in the second period with goals at 6:22 and 18:46, both at even strength. They outshot the Tommies 14-7 in the period and won 12 of the 22 faceoffs.
Disaster struck at 1:39 in the third when Sibell, who had otherwise had a tremendous game, failed to cover a lazily flung puck toward his net. On the most unassuming of plays, the Lakers capitalized on the error and scored to take the lead. St. Thomas did not stand down and fought back for the third time on this five-game win streak.
They matched the Lakers with 13 shots-on-goal apiece and scored the game-tying goal in the final two minutes at 18:16. Jake Braccini carried the puck into the offensive end, deked through three defenders and sniped a low shot past the goaltender to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The Tommies possessed the puck for nearly every second of the overtime period after Lucas Wahlin won the opening faceoff. They did not allow a shot toward the goal and scored on their third shot of the frame. Luc Laylin did it all by himself with a move from the forehand to the backhand and then back to the forehand with a snappy release to roof the puck just under the crossbar.
St. Thomas outshot the Lakers 40-39 in a free-flowing offensive battle. The Tommies were 0-3 on the power play and 4-4 on the penalty kill. They struggled in the circle with wins in just 26 of the 76 draws.
Tommie Tidbits
- The Tommies tied their program-best five-game win streak with their 4-3 overtime victory
- Lucas Wahlin extended his point streak to five games
- Jake Braccini extended his goal streak to three games (he has 4 in his last 5)
- Luc Laylin extended his point streak to four games
- Cooper Gay has a three-game point streak
- Liam Malmquist stretched his point streak to five games (his four-game multi-point streak ended tonight)
- Jake Sibell's 35 saves were a season-high and the most for him since 2/24/24 against Bemidji State (37 saves)
- The Toms are now 4-1-0 outside of Minnesota this season
- The Toms are 8-6-2 when scoring first this season
- The Toms are 6-1-1 when leading after the first period
- The Toms are 3-1-0 with 40 shots or more
- The Toms have not lost an overtime game this season (2-0-4)
- The Toms are 5-0-0 in January
Up Next
St. Thomas looks to set a new program record with six consecutive victories tomorrow night at Taffy Abel Arena with a 5:07 p.m. CST puck drop.
Team Stats
UST
LSS
Shots
40
38
PPG
1
0
SHG
1
0
Penalties
3
4
Penalty Mins
6
8
Faceoffs Won
26
50
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
1
+/-
-1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
2
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's HockeyD
/ Men's Hockey
G
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's HockeyPress Conference: Rico Blasi January 27th 2025
Monday, January 27
St. Thomas Men's Hockey 2023-24 Intro Video
Friday, October 27
Rico Blasi Pre-Season Press Conference, September 26th, 2022
Friday, October 21
Rico Blasi Press Conference October 3rd
Friday, October 21
