University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, October 23
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m. CT
vs
Minnesota State
10/22/2026 12:15:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The former CCHA foes meet for the first time since 2026 Mason Cup Final
ST. PAUL, Minn. – After years of battling atop the CCHA, St. Thomas men's hockey (1-1-0) and Minnesota State (0-4-0) will meet as non-conference foes for the first time in the Tommies' Division I era this weekend.
Game one is Friday at 7 p.m. CT at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul, and game two is Saturday at 6 p.m. CT in Mankato. Both games will air on Fox 9+, with Friday's on tape delay and Saturday's live. Sam Ekstrom has the radio call both nights on ESPN 1500. Friday's game can also be seen on NCHC.tv, while Saturday's will stream on CCHA TV by Midco Sports Plus.
The Tommies are one of two teams nationally (outside of the ECAC), along with Omaha, to have played two or fewer games this season. St. Thomas is 1-1-0 after its season-opening series at home against Air Force. The Falcons took game one, 5-1, and the Tommies answered with a 4-2 win the next night. Jakub Altrichter scored the lone goal in the loss. In game two, David Rozsival scored the first goal of his collegiate career, followed by goals from Chase Cheslock, Quinn Rudrud and Lucas Van Vliet. Freshman goaltender Ajay White earned his first collegiate win with 24 saves on 26 shots.
Minnesota State is winless to begin the 2026-27 season after being swept at home by nationally ranked Wisconsin and then on the road by Merrimack, which is now also ranked. Freshman Mason Kraft leads the team with three points and enters the weekend on a three-game point streak. The Mavericks' goaltenders are a combined 0-4-0 with a 4.93 GAA and .846 SV%.
St. Thomas and Minnesota State have met 23 times in the D-I era, and the Tommies are 6-8-1 since their first win in the series in 2022-23. During that stretch, the Purple are 5-4-1 at the Mayo Clinic Event Center. The two teams have met in each of the last two Mason Cup Finals, with the Mavericks winning both on home ice (4-2 and 4-1).
ALT-READY FITTING IN
Junior center Jakub Altrichter made a statement in his first weekend as a Tommie. The former Northern Michigan Wildcat scored his first goal in purple, which was the team's first shorthanded goal since Bauer Berry's last February against Bemidji State. St. Thomas tied for the national lead with 11 shorthanded goals last season.
Altrichter followed that up on Saturday with the first +4 rating of his collegiate career in the 4-2 win, his 61st career game. He won 25 of 38 faceoffs (.658) and logged 20:45 of ice time, second among Tommie forwards behind only Van Vliet.
TOMMIE TIDBITS
Freshman Ajay White is one of three goaltenders in the Tommies' room and earned his first career win in impressive fashion against Air Force on Oct. 10. He is the second goaltender in program history to win his debut start for the Purple. Carsen Musser was the first, last season.
WALL INGEMANN
Sophomore goaltender Will Ingemann has yet to appear this season and played in six games last year. The Plymouth, Minn. native made his collegiate debut against Minnesota State last season, stopping 19 of 21 shots in the game-one loss. He then stopped 27 of 30 the next night to earn his first career win on the road in Mankato.
CURRENT TOMMIES AGAINST MINNESOTA STATE
St. Thomas will be captained by a pair of four-year Tommie defensemen, Chase Cheslock and Cole Miller. This is the first time in the D-I era that head coach Rico Blasi has named co-captains. A third four-year defenseman, Mason Poolman, will wear the "A."
The Tommies are 9-29-4 in October during the D-I era and have yet to post a winning month. The Purple have never won more than two games in the year's 10th month.
The Tommies opened their 10-game non-conference slate two weekends ago (Oct. 9-10) against Air Force. They split the home-opening series, dropping game one 5-1 and taking game two 4-2. St. Thomas is playing a 34-game schedule in 2026-27, plus one exhibition game for Hockey Day Minnesota on Jan. 30 in Brainerd.
The non-league schedule also includes CCHA rivals Minnesota State and Bemidji State, first-time opponent Alaska Anchorage and NCAA tournament team Providence. Air Force, Bemidji State and Alaska Anchorage are three of the Tommies' five opponents that did not receive a vote in the preseason USCHO poll.
The Tommies play a home-and-home series with Minnesota State, hosting on Oct. 23 and traveling to Mankato the following night. After beginning NCHC play on Halloween weekend, they host the Seawolves on Nov. 6-7.
Thanksgiving week brings a home-and-home with Bemidji State, with games on Nov. 25 in Bemidji and Nov. 28 at Anderson Arena. The final non-conference series of the season is at Providence on Jan. 1-2, 2027, in Rhode Island.
MILESTONE WATCH
The Tommies were picked to finish seventh in the NCHC Preseason Media Poll.
COACH BLASI
St. Thomas returned just 11 players from its 2025-26 squad and welcomes 15 newcomers: nine freshmen and six transfers.
Freshmen
The Tommies have had a different player lead the team in points in each of their first five seasons of D-I play.
Game one is Friday at 7 p.m. CT at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul, and game two is Saturday at 6 p.m. CT in Mankato. Both games will air on Fox 9+, with Friday's on tape delay and Saturday's live. Sam Ekstrom has the radio call both nights on ESPN 1500. Friday's game can also be seen on NCHC.tv, while Saturday's will stream on CCHA TV by Midco Sports Plus.
The Tommies are one of two teams nationally (outside of the ECAC), along with Omaha, to have played two or fewer games this season. St. Thomas is 1-1-0 after its season-opening series at home against Air Force. The Falcons took game one, 5-1, and the Tommies answered with a 4-2 win the next night. Jakub Altrichter scored the lone goal in the loss. In game two, David Rozsival scored the first goal of his collegiate career, followed by goals from Chase Cheslock, Quinn Rudrud and Lucas Van Vliet. Freshman goaltender Ajay White earned his first collegiate win with 24 saves on 26 shots.
Minnesota State is winless to begin the 2026-27 season after being swept at home by nationally ranked Wisconsin and then on the road by Merrimack, which is now also ranked. Freshman Mason Kraft leads the team with three points and enters the weekend on a three-game point streak. The Mavericks' goaltenders are a combined 0-4-0 with a 4.93 GAA and .846 SV%.
St. Thomas and Minnesota State have met 23 times in the D-I era, and the Tommies are 6-8-1 since their first win in the series in 2022-23. During that stretch, the Purple are 5-4-1 at the Mayo Clinic Event Center. The two teams have met in each of the last two Mason Cup Finals, with the Mavericks winning both on home ice (4-2 and 4-1).
ALT-READY FITTING IN
Junior center Jakub Altrichter made a statement in his first weekend as a Tommie. The former Northern Michigan Wildcat scored his first goal in purple, which was the team's first shorthanded goal since Bauer Berry's last February against Bemidji State. St. Thomas tied for the national lead with 11 shorthanded goals last season.
Altrichter followed that up on Saturday with the first +4 rating of his collegiate career in the 4-2 win, his 61st career game. He won 25 of 38 faceoffs (.658) and logged 20:45 of ice time, second among Tommie forwards behind only Van Vliet.
TOMMIE TIDBITS
- The Purple were 12-6-2 on Saturdays last season and are 1-0-0 this year.
- The Tommies scored first in their 4-2 win. They were 12-3-2 last season when scoring the first goal.
- St. Thomas is 1-0-0 when leading after two periods this season. It was 12-1-2 in those games last season.
- The Tommies outshot Air Force 80-54 in the opening series. Last season, they were 13-4-3 when recording 30 or more shots and 8-8-2 when they had fewer than 30.
- St. Thomas was unbeaten in overtime last season, including a 4-3 win in Mankato.
- With his 468th career win on Oct. 10 against Air Force, head coach Rico Blasi moved into a tie for 20th all-time with Joe Marsh. Blasi, who won his 450th game on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, against St. Cloud State, is in his 26th year and ranks fourth among active head coaches. He is four wins shy of Don Vaughan (19th).
Freshman Ajay White is one of three goaltenders in the Tommies' room and earned his first career win in impressive fashion against Air Force on Oct. 10. He is the second goaltender in program history to win his debut start for the Purple. Carsen Musser was the first, last season.
WALL INGEMANN
Sophomore goaltender Will Ingemann has yet to appear this season and played in six games last year. The Plymouth, Minn. native made his collegiate debut against Minnesota State last season, stopping 19 of 21 shots in the game-one loss. He then stopped 27 of 30 the next night to earn his first career win on the road in Mankato.
CURRENT TOMMIES AGAINST MINNESOTA STATE
- Bauer Berry – 0G-3A-3P
- Dylan Godbout – 2G-0A-2P
- Attila Lippai – 1G-1A-2P
- Nathan Pilling – 1G-1A-2P
- Lucas Van Vliet – 0G-2A-2P
- Chase Cheslock – 0G-2A-2P
- Mason Poolman – 0G-2A-2P
- Nick Williams – 0G-1A-1P
- Will Ingemann – 1-1-0, 46 saves, 120 mins, 5 GA, 2.50 GAA, .902 SV%
- Carsen Musser – 0-1-0, 35 saves, 57 mins, 4 GA, 4.23 GAA, .897 SV%
St. Thomas will be captained by a pair of four-year Tommie defensemen, Chase Cheslock and Cole Miller. This is the first time in the D-I era that head coach Rico Blasi has named co-captains. A third four-year defenseman, Mason Poolman, will wear the "A."
- Chase Cheslock – Four goals, 39 assists and 43 points in 97 career games. He has captained two previous teams: Rogers High School for two years and the Omaha Lancers in 2023, before he joined the Tommies at the holiday break in 2024.
- Cole Miller – Two goals, 15 assists and 17 points in 108 career games. Miller also has two previous captaincies: the Ohio Blue Jackets 18U AAA team in 2020-21 and the Sioux Falls Stampede in 2022-23.
- Mason Poolman – Seven goals, 18 assists and 25 points in 106 career games.
The Tommies are 9-29-4 in October during the D-I era and have yet to post a winning month. The Purple have never won more than two games in the year's 10th month.
- 2021-22: 1-9-0
- 2022-23: 2-6-0
- 2023-24: 2-5-1
- 2024-25: 1-3-2
- 2025-26: 2-5-1
- 2026-27: 1-1-0
The Tommies opened their 10-game non-conference slate two weekends ago (Oct. 9-10) against Air Force. They split the home-opening series, dropping game one 5-1 and taking game two 4-2. St. Thomas is playing a 34-game schedule in 2026-27, plus one exhibition game for Hockey Day Minnesota on Jan. 30 in Brainerd.
The non-league schedule also includes CCHA rivals Minnesota State and Bemidji State, first-time opponent Alaska Anchorage and NCAA tournament team Providence. Air Force, Bemidji State and Alaska Anchorage are three of the Tommies' five opponents that did not receive a vote in the preseason USCHO poll.
The Tommies play a home-and-home series with Minnesota State, hosting on Oct. 23 and traveling to Mankato the following night. After beginning NCHC play on Halloween weekend, they host the Seawolves on Nov. 6-7.
Thanksgiving week brings a home-and-home with Bemidji State, with games on Nov. 25 in Bemidji and Nov. 28 at Anderson Arena. The final non-conference series of the season is at Providence on Jan. 1-2, 2027, in Rhode Island.
MILESTONE WATCH
- Career points
- Chase Cheslock has 43 career points.
- Career assists
- Nick Williams has 24 career assists.
- Career games played
- Chase Cheslock has played in 97 career games.
- Nick Williams has played in 92 career games.
- Bauer Berry (Edmonton Oilers)
- Hawke Huff (Seattle Kraken)
- Justin Kipkie (Minnesota Wild)
- Carsen Musser (Utah Mammoth)
- Nathan Pilling (Vegas Golden Knights)
- David Rozsival (New Jersey Devils)
- Lucas Van Vliet (Vegas Golden Knights)
- Ajay White (Dallas Stars)
- Bauer Berry was selected 218th overall (seventh round) in the 2024 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers.
- Chase Cheslock was selected 154th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils and was the first drafted player to commit to the Tommies out of high school.
- Hawke Huff was selected 148th overall (fifth round) in the 2026 NHL Draft by the Seattle Kraken. He is the highest-drafted freshman in program history.
- Justin Kipkie was selected 141st overall (fifth round) in the 2025 NHL Draft by the Minnesota Wild.
- Carsen Musser was selected 166th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft by the Utah Mammoth.
- David Rozsival was selected 161st overall in the 2025 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils.
- Lucas Van Vliet was selected 197th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Tommies were picked to finish seventh in the NCHC Preseason Media Poll.
- Denver – 304 points (14 first-place votes)
- North Dakota – 302 points (12 first-place votes)
- Minnesota Duluth – 273 points (7 first-place votes)
- Western Michigan – 237 points
- Miami – 175 points
- Colorado College – 159 points
- St. Thomas – 121 points
- St. Cloud State – 102 points
- Arizona State – 73 points
- Omaha – 69 points
COACH BLASI
- Entering his sixth season at St. Thomas.
- During his 20-year tenure at Miami, Blasi led 10 NCAA tournament teams, including 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), 10 Hobey Baker finalists, 10 All-Americans and 25 players who went on to play in the NHL, including Stanley Cup champions Alex Martinez, Jeff Zatkoff, Blake Coleman and Reilly Smith.
- His 468-412-91 record ties him for 20th all-time and ranks fourth among active head coaches.
St. Thomas returned just 11 players from its 2025-26 squad and welcomes 15 newcomers: nine freshmen and six transfers.
Freshmen
- Vincent Collard | 6-2 | Forward | Chicoutimi, Quebec | Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL)
- Aiden Grossklaus | 6-0 | Forward | Woodbury, Minn. | Wenatchee (WHL)
- Kaeden Hawkins | 6-0 | Forward | St. Louis, Mo. | London (OHL)
- Hawke Huff | 6-3 | Defenseman | Plymouth, Minn. | Cedar Rapids (USHL)
- Andrew O'Neill | 6-2 | Forward | Fargo, N.D. | Edmonton (WHL)
- Jackson Potulny | 6-3 | Forward | Maple Grove, Minn. | El Paso (NAHL)
- David Rozsival | 6-1 | Forward | Liberec, Czechia | Green Bay (USHL)
- Kade Stengrim | 6-4 | Forward | Brainerd, Minn. | Medicine Hat (WHL)
- Ajay White | 6-3 | Goaltender | Bryn Mawr, Pa. | Fargo (USHL)
- Jakub Altrichter | 5-11 | Forward | Prague, Czechia | Northern Michigan (CCHA)
- Kevin Anderson | 6-0 | Forward | Regina, Saskatchewan | Princeton (ECAC)
- Sam Groebner | 6-2 | Defenseman | Apple Valley, Minn. | Army (AHA)
- Justin Kipkie | 6-4 | Defenseman | Calgary, Alberta | Arizona State (NCAA)
- Quinn Rudrud | 6-3 | Forward | Farmington, Minn. | Augustana (CCHA)
- Winter Wallace | 6-4 | Forward | Boulder, Colo. | Cornell (ECAC)
The Tommies have had a different player lead the team in points in each of their first five seasons of D-I play.
- Christiano Versich, 2021-22 (15 points)
- Mack Byers, 2022-23 (26 points)
- Lucas Wahlin, 2023-24 (30 points)
- Liam Malmquist, 2024-25 (45 points)
- Alex Gaffney, 2025-26 (40 points)
- Lucas Wahlin (56, 2022-26), Cooper Gay (35, 2022-25) and Jake Braccini (33, 2022-26) round out the top three in career D-I goals.
- Lucas Wahlin (131, 2022-26), Ryan O'Neill (94, 2022-26) and Liam Malmquist (72, 2023-25) make up the top three in career points.
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