University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, March 14
St. Paul, Minn.
4:07 p.m. CST
21-11-5
2
vs
1
Augustana
22-11-4
1st period1
2nd period2
3rd period3
FinalF
Augustana (SD)
0
0
1
1
St. Thomas (MN)
0
0
2
2
Musser and Co. send Men’s Hockey back to Mason Cup Final
3/14/2026 8:32:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Lucas Van Vliet and Alex Gaffney scored in the 2-1 win
ST. PAUL, Minn. – #18 St. Thomas men's hockey (21-11-5) returns to the Mason Cup Final for the second season in a row after a 2-1 win on home ice over #13 Augustana (22-11-4) on Saturday evening. Carsen Musser stopped 24 of 25 shots faced in net for his 11th win of the season.
At first nothing and then all at once, describes the offense of Saturday's game quite aptly. In a matchup between the CCHA Player of the Year, Josh Kotai, and Carsen Musser of St. Thomas, could much more have been expected?
The two netminders combined for over 45 minutes of scoreless hockey with 35 shots saved before Lucas Van Vliet notched the icebreaker at 5:23 in the third period. The Vikings turned the puck over into the neutral zone from the offensive end directly to Nick Williams. In his first game back since February 20, the Tommie D-man placed a pass to Van Vliet who skated the puck across the blue line toward Kotai. After he lost the puck briefly, he sent in a lob shot to the net that bounced off a pair of Vikings in the paint and then in off the far post.
Augustana answered back 57 seconds later, about as "all at once" as it gets. The tie continued past halfway in the third until 10:53.
Lucas Wahlin won an offensive zone face off directly back to Alex Gaffney who ripped a shot from outside the right circle for a Tommie lead. The goal was Gaffney's 40th point of the season as he became the third Tommie in DI program history to surpass the 40-point mark.
Musser stopped nine in the first, four in the second, and 11 in the third including one with the extra attacker on for the Vikings in the waning moments. The sophomore puck stopper lowered his CCHA GAA to 2.29 and raised his save percentage to .910.
The Tommies won 35-28 on the dot and out shot the Vikings 28-25. Both teams came up empty on their one power play chance (Vikings in the first, Tommies in the second).
Up Next
The Tommies head to the Mason Cup Final on Friday. If Minnesota State wins its semifinal, the game will be in Mankato. If Michigan Tech wins, the Tommies will host the Huskies at Lee & Penny Anderson 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.
At first nothing and then all at once, describes the offense of Saturday's game quite aptly. In a matchup between the CCHA Player of the Year, Josh Kotai, and Carsen Musser of St. Thomas, could much more have been expected?
The two netminders combined for over 45 minutes of scoreless hockey with 35 shots saved before Lucas Van Vliet notched the icebreaker at 5:23 in the third period. The Vikings turned the puck over into the neutral zone from the offensive end directly to Nick Williams. In his first game back since February 20, the Tommie D-man placed a pass to Van Vliet who skated the puck across the blue line toward Kotai. After he lost the puck briefly, he sent in a lob shot to the net that bounced off a pair of Vikings in the paint and then in off the far post.
Augustana answered back 57 seconds later, about as "all at once" as it gets. The tie continued past halfway in the third until 10:53.
Lucas Wahlin won an offensive zone face off directly back to Alex Gaffney who ripped a shot from outside the right circle for a Tommie lead. The goal was Gaffney's 40th point of the season as he became the third Tommie in DI program history to surpass the 40-point mark.
Musser stopped nine in the first, four in the second, and 11 in the third including one with the extra attacker on for the Vikings in the waning moments. The sophomore puck stopper lowered his CCHA GAA to 2.29 and raised his save percentage to .910.
The Tommies won 35-28 on the dot and out shot the Vikings 28-25. Both teams came up empty on their one power play chance (Vikings in the first, Tommies in the second).
Up Next
The Tommies head to the Mason Cup Final on Friday. If Minnesota State wins its semifinal, the game will be in Mankato. If Michigan Tech wins, the Tommies will host the Huskies at Lee & Penny Anderson 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
AUG
UST
Shots
24
28
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
1
1
Penalty Mins
2
2
Faceoffs Won
28
35
Game Leaders
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Hockey
G
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's HockeyD
/ Men's HockeyTommie Men's Hockey 2025 Intro Video
Wednesday, November 12
Press 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
