By Ryan Stieg
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — After putting up nine goals on Ferris State last night, the St. Thomas men’s hockey team knew it’d have a tougher fight on its hands Saturday night and despite being on their heels for most of the third period, the Tommies eventually gathered themselves and delivered a knockout punch.
Down 3-2 to the Bulldogs, UST got a game-tying goal from captain Lucas Wahlin and then a late power play goal by Jake Braccini to earn a 4-3 win and a series sweep. The Tommies have now won four games in a row to open 2025 and notched their first CCHA sweep of the season.
“I thought they played really well in the first 10 minutes,” UST head coach Rico Blasi said. “They really took it to us. It took us a little bit of time to kind of adjust to their intensity and I thought we did that. I thought it was a really good college hockey game. They played well. I thought we played well. We went down 3-2 and we got a great play from Liam (Malmquist) to Wahlin. Sibes (Jake Sibell) made some big saves and then our power play came through in the end. And then we had to obviously fight them off at the end. So, all in all really happy with the win. I thought we played a really good brand of hockey, which I like. The guys stayed focus to the process and that’s all you can ask for.”
Last night’s first period was an offensive explosion, but Saturday ‘s first was much more of a defensive battle. Sibell made some nice saves for the Tommies in the first few minutes, but Ferris ended up getting on the scoreboard first at the 9:55 mark. With UST in the middle of a line change, the Bulldogs streaked up the ice with Gavin Best sending a cross-ice pass over to Cole Burtch, who then beat Sibell glove side to make it 1-0.
The Tommies answered back late in the period on a good play by Malmquist at 16:37. With UST buzzing in the Ferris zone, Wahlin snapped a shot from the high slot that Malmquist tipped past Bulldogs goalie Noah West to tie the game at 1-1.
Heading into this weekend, Ferris had one of the worst penalty kills in the nation, but it was on the kill where they took the lead again at 9:39. The Bulldogs broke free on a rush up the ice where Travis Shoudy sent a pass over to Xavier Jean-Louis, who beat Sibell to the left post to make it 2-1.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they ended up giving up the tying goal on a kill three minutes later. Tommies forward Cooper Gay shot the puck from the slot that trickled under West’s pads and slid across the line before the Bulldogs could knock it out and the game was tied 2-2 going into the third.
The Tommies have one of the best power plays in the nation and it was definitely on display this weekend. As one of the forwards on the power play unit, Wahlin says that a big reason for their success is the connections they’re making.
“I think a lot of us are starting to get a lot more comfortable with each other,” he said. “We’re starting to build a bond, so that’s why we’re clicking. It’s been great. Even in practice, we’re communicating more, we’re hanging out more. It’s been great.”
Special teams came up big in the third for both teams with the Bulldogs taking the lead again on the power play as Tyler Scheppe scored on a deflection less than a minute into the period to make it 3-2. However, Ferris couldn’t maintain their lead as the Tommies tied it again at 15:14. With the Tommies on a rush, Malmquist fed a streaking Wahlin coming up the slot and he beat West five-hole to get it to 3-3.
A little more than two minutes later, the Tommies’ potent power play cashed in again when Braccini wristed a rebound into the back of the net and they held on in the closing seconds to complete the sweep.
UST will try to extend its winning streak when it heads to Lake Superior State next weekend and Wahlin said he’s taking his mindset from this week with him to Sault Ste. Marie.
“My motto throughout the week has been two (wins in a row) is a fluke and three is a streak,” he said. “Today, it was three is a fluke and four is a streak. So, we’ve got to keep the streak going and build off our confidence and realize what’s been making us have success and stick with it.”