University of St. Thomas Athletics

Friday, October 31
St. Paul, Minn. / Lee & Penny Anderson Arena
7:07 p.m. CST

vs

Minnesota State

Ryan O'Neill
Photo by: Nick Wosika

Mason Cup Final Rematch to Kick-Off CCHA Play

10/30/2025 2:38:00 PM | Men's Hockey

The Tommies host the #18 Mavericks on Friday and then head to Mankato on Saturday

St. Paul, Minn. – St. Thomas Men's Hockey (2-4-1, 0-0-0) will begin its CCHA schedule with the reigning CCHA champion Minnesota State Mavericks (3-1-2, 0-0-0) in a rematch of the 2025 Mason Cup Final. The Tommies will host the Mavericks at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena on Friday after breaking in the brand-new building with a competitive series against the nationally ranked Providence Friars. Friday's game will be the only home game for the Toms against Minnesota State this season with a road game to follow on Saturday and then the season finale on Saturday, January 10 back in Mankato.
The Tommies have played one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the CCHA with games against nationally ranked North Dakota and Providence. The Purple tied the Friars last Friday to open LPA before taking the "pointless" shootout. Nathan Pilling scored the first goal for the Toms at Lee & Penny and Aaron Trotter made 38 saves in his second start of the season. Providence came back with a vengeance on Friday. They scored 20 seconds in to take the lead, fell behind 4-1, and then ripped off six straight goals to win, 7-4. Hayes Hundley and Bauer Berry each scored their first career goals one minute and seven seconds apart while Alex Gaffney scored his CCHA-leading fifth goal and added his conference-best 10th and 11th points.
#18 Minnesota State is fresh off a home sweep of RPI. The Mavericks took game one 4-2 and followed it up with a 2-1 victory. RPI is winless this season with losses to Miami, Boston College, and Providence. Mankato potted four power play goals between the two games and got goals from six different players. Alex Tracy made 17 saves on 19 shots on Friday and 29 saves on 30 shots the following night. Tracy is off to a strong start with a 1.96 GAA and .928 SV%, he has started in every game. Evan Murr received CCHA Defenseman of the Week honors after a two-point weekend.  

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
-The Tommies and Mavericks battle for the 20th and 21st times in the DI era this coming Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November 1.
-Puck drop on Friday night at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. The game represents the first and only time that Minnesota State will play a regular season conference game at LPA.
-Game two will commence at 6:07 p.m. in Mankato at Mayo Clinic HSEC. The Tommies played well at Mayo last season with a 3-2 regulation win and a 1-1 tie and shootout win. The Mavs got the most important win in the Mason Cup Final, 4-2.  

ON THE RADIO
-ESPN 1500 is the home of all St. Thomas Men's Hockey games.
-Fans can listen on the radio at 1500 AM, online at https://live.skornorth.com/listen/ or on the Varsity Sports App.

CCHA TV ON MIDCO SPORTS PLUS
-All St. Thomas home games and CCHA games will be live-streamed on Midco Sports Plus.
-Midco Sports Plus provides each subscriber with access to all content and events with the purchase of a monthly or yearly subscription.
-Midco Sports Plus is available on IOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.

EVENLY MATCHED
-Minnesota State holds the overall series lead by a wide margin, 14-4-1, and won the first eight matchups in the DI era by a combined score of 53-11.
-Since the Tommies' first win on 2/3/23, the series has evened. St. Thomas is 4-6-1 against the Mavs. Of those 11 games, six have been decided by a one goal margin, and three of the remaining five games included an empty-net goal.

TOMMIES AGAINST MANKATO
-Luc Laylin – 5G–2A–7P
-Lucas Wahlin - 1G–5A–6P
-Ryan O'Neill - 0G–5A–5P
-Jake Braccini - 3G–1A–4P
-Caige Sterzer - 2G–1A–3P
-Nick Williams – 0G-2A-2P – Michigan Tech
-Alex Gaffney – 1G-0A-1P – Harvard
-Quinton Pepper - 0G–1A–1P
-Mason Poolman - 0G–1A–1P
-Chase Cheslock - 0G–1A–1P
-Aaron Trotter – 3-6-0, 264 saves, 479 mins, 31 GA, 3.88 GAA, .895 SV%

FREE HOCKEY
-The Tommies played in their first overtime game since February 1, 2025 last Friday against Providence.
-The contest officially ended in a tie, but the Toms took the "pointless" shootout victory with goals from Lucas Wahlin and Lucas Van Vliet.
-St. Thomas was 2-1-5 in OT games last season and is 4-10-10 in the DI era.

HIGH-FLYING HOCKEY
-The Tommies have scored the most goals among CCHA teams this season (27)
-The Tommies have also allowed the second-most goals among CCHA teams this season (31).
-On a per game basis, the Tommies lead in both categories with 3.86 goals per game and 4.43 goals allowed per game.
-St. Thomas ranks 53rd out of 57 teams on defense and T-8th on offense.
-The only teams scoring at a higher rate this season are Michigan, Miami, Penn State, Duluth, Notre Dame, Omaha, Union, and UMass.

WHY PLAY WITH FIVE?
-The Tommies led the country in shorthanded goals last season (9) and are right back at it this season with the second most in the entire nation (4).
-Nathan Pilling is one of three players in the country (Josh Eernisse of Michigan & John Herrington of Lake State) with two shorthanded goals. Pilling is the fourth Tommie to score multiple SHG in a season (Malmquist 4, 24-25; Byers 2, 23-24; Wahlin 2, 24-25).
-Lucas Van Vliet and Alex Gaffney account for the other two SHG by the Toms this season.
-St. Thomas scored a pair of SHG on Friday for the first time in program history. Pilling's first goal at LPA was a shorty.

GOING STREAKING
-Nathan Pilling – 2 game point streak
-Lucas Wahlin's 12-game point streak came to an end on Friday but he rebounded with a goal on Saturday
-Alex Gaffney's five game point streak to start the season concluded on Friday, but he bounced back with a two point night on Saturday

HAPPY 100
-Jake Braccini and Quinton Pepper each skated in their 100th game on Saturday against Providence. They became the sixth and seventh players to do so in the DI era.
-Braccini ranks fifth in program history with 49 points as he looks to beat Luc Laylin (48P) out to become the fifth player to reach the 50-point mark in purple. Jake's 21 goals are seventh most in program history and 28 assists are sixth.
-Pepper's 16 career points have cracked him into the top-25 at 19th in program history. His four goals are 22nd and 12 assists are 18th.
-They join Luc Laylin, Ryan O'Neill, and Lucas Wahlin as members of the "Believer" class to make it to 100.
-Carson Peters is three games from the century mark and Aaron Trotter is 19 away.

AN EXTRA HELPING HAND
-Charlie Schoen was retroactively given an extra assist in the Tommies' 11-2 win over Air Force a couple weeks ago. He finished the game with four helpers, the first four assist game of his career and first four-point game of his career.
-Schoen's season tally now sits at 1G-4A-5P in six games played.

WELCOME TO ST. PAUL
-It has been a dream start for Alex Gaffney after transferring in from Harvard for his final season of college hockey.
-Gaffney has added 11 points in seven games to lead the CCHA and he has done so in just seven games.
-He is the fastest Tommie to 10+ points in program history just one season after Liam Malmquist scored 10 points in eight games.
-The West Orange, N.J. native currently sits ninth in the country with 11P at 1.57 points per game.  

MILESTONE WATCH
-Career Games Played -Career Points 2025-26 CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
-Alex Gaffney Forward of the Week (10/20/25)
-Chase Cheslock Defenseman of the Week (10/6/25)

OCTOBER RECAP
-2-4-1, -5 goal differential
-Won the first game of the season over St. Cloud State on the road, Nathan Pilling scored the game winning goal.
-Dropped a pair to North Dakota, 6-2 and 5-2.
-Split the road series with Air Force, with an 11-2 win in game one and a 6-2 loss in game two.
-Tied on night one at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena and then won the shootout against #15 Providence before dropping game two 7-4.
-Alex Gaffney leads the Tommies with 11 points (5G-6A) in October.
-Carsen Musser is 1-4-0 with a 5.25 GAA and .831 SV%.
-Aaron Trotter is 1-0-1 with a 2.24 GAA and .929 SV%
-The Toms are 6-30 (20%) on the power play and 15-22 (68.1%) on the penalty kill.

DI SCORING RECORD HOLDERS
-Lucas Wahlin (39), Cooper Gay (35, 2022-25), and Mack Byers (31, 2022-24) round out the top three in DI goals scored.
  • Wahlin scored in the Tommies' 7-4 loss on Saturday night.
-Lucas Wahlin (96), Liam Malmquist (72, 2023-25), and Ryan O'Neill (70) make up the top three in career points.
  • Wahlin has scored four goals this season, one in four different games.
NHL DEVELOPMENT CAMPS
-Bauer Berry (Edmonton Oilers)
-Chase Cheslock (New Jersey Devils)
-Carsen Musser (Utah Mammoth)
-Nathan Pilling (Ottawa Senators)
-Lucas Van Vliet (Vegas Golden Knights)
-Lucas Wahlin (Colorado Avalanche)

NHL DRAFT PICKS
-Bauer Berry was selected as the 218th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2024 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers.
-Chase Cheslock was selected as the 154th overall pick of the 2023 NHL draft by the New Jersey Devils and was the first drafted Tommie to commit to the program out of high school.
-Carsen Musser was selected as the 166th overall pick of the 2023 NHL draft by the Utah Mammoth.
-Lucas Van Vliet was selected as the 197th overall pick of the 2024 NHL draft by the Vegas Golden Knights.

IN GOOD COMPANY
-Lucas Wahlin entered the season third in career points in the NCAA among active players. His 92 (now 95) put him above all members of the CCHA and behind only Jeremy Wilmer of Quinnipiac (109) and T.J. Hughes of Michigan (122).
-Wahlin's 35 (now 38) career goals were ninth-most among active players.
-His 57 assists were fourth.
-Aaron Trotter's 78 career games in goal were fifth most in the country.
-Trotter's 26 career wins were tied for 10th.

PRESEASON PUB
-The Tommies were picked to finish in first place in the CCHA coaches' poll for the second consecutive season earlier in September.
-They were also selected second in the media poll for the second year in a row.
-Lucas Wahlin was once again named Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches after his 17-24—41 point season last year. The now senior was selected as team captain for the third-year running last week.
-Newcomer, Nathan Pilling, was named Preseason Rookie of the Year by the conference coaches. He skated in 218 total games across four seasons in the WHL for the Moose Jaw Warriors, Edmonton Oil Kings, and Seattle Thunderbirds… scored 70 career goals, added 56 career assists, and tallied 126 total points in the WHL… coming off a career-best season as assistant captain with the Thunderbirds with 37 goals, 30 assists, and 67 points in 67 games in 2024-25.

COACH BLASI
-Entering fifth season for St. Thomas
-During his 20-year tenure at Miami, Blasi was the head coach of 10 NCAA tournament teams, one national runner-up and one other Frozen Four team
-National Coach of the Year in 2005-06
-Coached one Hobey Baker Award winner (Andy Miele) and 10 Hobey Baker finalists, 10 All-America players, and 25 who went on to play in the NHL, including Stanley Cup Champions Alex Martinez, Jeff Zatkoff, Blake Coleman, and Riley Smith.

NICE TO MEET YA
St. Thomas returned just 13 players from its breakthrough 2024-25 squad. The Tommies welcome in 15 newcomers into the fold, 10 freshman and five transfers.
-Freshmen
  • Bauer Berry | 6-4 | Defenseman | Grand Forks, N.D. | Muskegon (USHL)
  • Josh Giuliani | 6-1 | Forward | Plymouth, Minn. | Dubuque (USHL)
  • Hayes Hundley | 6-3 | Defenseman | Upper Arlington, Ohio | Fargo (USHL)
  • Will Ingemann | 5-11 | Goaltender | Plymouth, Minn. | Penticton (BCHL)
  • Colton Jamieson | 6-0 | Defenseman | Hudson, Wis. | Madison (USHL)
  • Attila Lippai | 5-9 | Forward | St. Paul, Minn. | Tri-City (USHL)
  • Nathan Pilling | 6-4 | Forward | Calgary, Alta. | Seattle (WHL)
  • Sam Ranallo | 5-10 | Forward | Rogers, Minn. | Cranbrook (BCHL)
  • Luke Schelter | 6-2 | Forward | Centennial, Colo. | Fargo (USHL)
  • Lucas Van Vliet | 6-2 | Forward | Livonia, Mich. | Dubuque (USHL)
-Transfers
  • Alex Gaffney | 5-9 | Forward | West Orange, N.J. | Harvard (NCAA)
  • Dylan Godbout | 5-11 | Forward | Woodbury, Minn. | Ohio State (NCAA)
  • Carsen Musser | 6-4 | Goaltender | Fairmont, Minn. | Colorado (NCAA)
  • Charlie Schoen | 5-10 | Forward | Andover, Minn. | Arizona State (NCAA)
  • Nick Williams | 5-9 | Defenseman | Edina, Minn, | Michigan Tech (NCAA)
GOING GREY
-The Tommies are tied for the eighth most seniors in the country with eight.
-Between those eight seniors (Lucas Wahlin, Caige Sterzer, Ryan O'Neill, Quinton Pepper, Luc Laylin, Jake Braccini, Carson Peters, Aaron Trotter) they had amassed:
  • 783 games
  • 120 goals
  • 210 assists

Next Event

Minnesota State

Oct 31 (Fri)

7:07 p.m. CST
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