By Ryan Stieg
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — Everybody wants to start a new year on a good note, but the St. Thomas men’s hockey team has taken that to the next level as it’s now the last weekend in January and the Tommies have yet to lose in 2025.
Bemidji State gave UST a good battle Saturday night and it was a back-and-forth game throughout, but the Tommies got a power play goal late in the third period to top the Beavers 3-2. UST has now won six of its last seven games and hasn’t lost since Dec. 29.
“I thought it was a good hockey game,” Tommies head coach Rico Blasi said. “I thought both teams played well, both goaltenders played well. It came down to a bounce at the end. Their PK was doing a great job against our power play. We threw two D and a line out there at the end and got a bounce.”
The Tommies struck first early in the opening period when forward Ryan O’Neill gathered a loose puck after a face off, skated into the slot and beat Beavers goalie Mattias Sholl glove-side at the 2:04 mark.
However, the rest of the period was controlled by Bemidji and it appeared as if the Beavers tied the game at the 10:38 mark on a goal by Adam Flammang, but it was waved off due to offsides. Tommies goalie Aaron Trotter then came up big 26 seconds later after he robbed BSU’s Jackson Jutting with a flashy glove save.
Bemidji did cash in on its next good opportunity though. With the Beavers on the power play thanks to a Jake Braccini penalty, Kirklan Irey fed a streaking Jutting by the left post and Jutting beat Trotter glove-side to tie the game at 1-1 going into the second.
Just like in the first period, the Tommies took an early lead. With UST on the power play, Braccini made up for his earlier penalty and fired a one-timer past Sholl at the 1:29 mark to make it 2-1. However, Jutting tied things up for the Beavers again at 9:38 after he flung the puck into the back of the net from the top of the left faceoff circle and it was 2-2 after two periods.
Special teams have been a strong point for the Tommies during the second half of the season and Trotter said they did a good job bouncing back after giving up the power play goal in the first period.
“The boys have done a great job on the power play for us and the PK, the boys were bearing down after the first one of course, but we held them off when it mattered,” he said.
The third period was primarily controlled by the Tommies as they spent a good chunk of it on the power play. UST came up empty on its first two power plays in the period, but with just seconds remaining on a major penalty, the Tommies took the lead. After Flammang got handed a contact to the head major and a game misconduct, UST had a golden opportunity to grab the lead and maybe even put the game away. However, through most of the power play, it appeared as if the Tommies would let that chance slip away until Matthew Gleason deflected a Mason Poolman shot past Sholl at the 17:34 mark to give UST a 3-2 lead and the victory.
When asked what has been the big key to this big January run, Trotter said confidence is high and that everyone seems to have bought in to the team’s mindset.
“Everyone is putting in that second or third effort,” he said. “I know my defense is going to sell out for blocked shots or do what they need to do and then let me do my job too. We have unwavering faith in each and every one of our guys in that locker room.”