University of St. Thomas Athletics

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Nation’s longest win streak ends in hard fought battle
1/31/2026 10:52:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The Tommies clawed back to tie the game three times before losing 4-3.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The saying goes "all good things must come to an end" and it rang true on Saturday night as the St. Thomas men's hockey team's NCAA-leading 11-game win streak concluded with a 4-3 loss to the Michigan Tech Huskies. The Tommies tied the game at 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3, but could not find the fourth before the end of regulation.
The Huskies outshot the Tommies 11-4 in the first period and got the scoring started at 4:54. St. Thomas earned a power play more than halfway through the period and Nathan Pilling slammed home a one-timer to knot the game up at 13:20 from Nick Williams and Ryan O'Neill.
Tech answered back with a power play goal at 17:59 and then Jake Braccini, who took the penalty that led to the Husky goal, scored his second of the weekend at 18:17. Nathan Pilling and Brayden Boehm of Michigan Tech got tangled up after the horn sounded on the first period and both were assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
The second period started at 4-on-4 and began a scoreless period filled with special teams chances. The Toms were first up with an extended 5-on-3 power play at the front end of the second, and the Huskies earned a five-minute power play on a Pilling interference major at 12:18. St. Thomas won the shots-on-goal battle at 11-5 but neither team scored in the frame.
Michigan Tech scored at 2:17 in the third, Alex Gaffney added his third goal of the weekend from Hayes Hundley and Lucas Wahlin at 5:54, but the Huskies answered at 6:11 with the game's final tally.
St. Thomas had a glimmer of hope in the final minute with a minor penalty called against Tech with just under 40 seconds to play but the comeback was not in the cards this go-around.
Tech finished with the edge in shots at 24-23 and the Tommies won 35 of 50 faceoffs. This is just the ninth game of the season that an opponent has out shot the Purple, they are 4-4-1 when being out shot this season.
Up Next
St. Thomas takes its longest road trip of the season to face off with the Bowling Green Falcons (14-6-6, 11-4-3) on February 6-7 at 6:07 p.m. CST. The Tommies are 3-5-0 all time at Slater Family Ice Arena.
Follow Along
For any and all information pertaining to the University of St. Thomas Men's Hockey team, follow along on Instagram and Twitter at @TommieMHockey. Follow the fun @tommiesports on TikTok.
The Huskies outshot the Tommies 11-4 in the first period and got the scoring started at 4:54. St. Thomas earned a power play more than halfway through the period and Nathan Pilling slammed home a one-timer to knot the game up at 13:20 from Nick Williams and Ryan O'Neill.
Tech answered back with a power play goal at 17:59 and then Jake Braccini, who took the penalty that led to the Husky goal, scored his second of the weekend at 18:17. Nathan Pilling and Brayden Boehm of Michigan Tech got tangled up after the horn sounded on the first period and both were assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
The second period started at 4-on-4 and began a scoreless period filled with special teams chances. The Toms were first up with an extended 5-on-3 power play at the front end of the second, and the Huskies earned a five-minute power play on a Pilling interference major at 12:18. St. Thomas won the shots-on-goal battle at 11-5 but neither team scored in the frame.
Michigan Tech scored at 2:17 in the third, Alex Gaffney added his third goal of the weekend from Hayes Hundley and Lucas Wahlin at 5:54, but the Huskies answered at 6:11 with the game's final tally.
St. Thomas had a glimmer of hope in the final minute with a minor penalty called against Tech with just under 40 seconds to play but the comeback was not in the cards this go-around.
Tech finished with the edge in shots at 24-23 and the Tommies won 35 of 50 faceoffs. This is just the ninth game of the season that an opponent has out shot the Purple, they are 4-4-1 when being out shot this season.
Up Next
St. Thomas takes its longest road trip of the season to face off with the Bowling Green Falcons (14-6-6, 11-4-3) on February 6-7 at 6:07 p.m. CST. The Tommies are 3-5-0 all time at Slater Family Ice Arena.
Follow Along
For any and all information pertaining to the University of St. Thomas Men's Hockey team, follow along on Instagram and Twitter at @TommieMHockey. Follow the fun @tommiesports on TikTok.
Team Stats
MTU
UST
Shots
24
23
PPG
1
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
6
4
Penalty Mins
12
11
Faceoffs Won
20
35
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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