It took seven games before the St. Thomas men’s hockey team was able to secure their first Division I victory this season. The Tommies split its Ferris State series with a historic 5-2 win Saturday at St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights.
A relatively equal-shooting matchup, graduate student goaltender Peter Thome of St. Thomas faced 31 and sophomore goaltender Logan Stein of Ferris State took 27 shots.
“(Coach Rico Blasi) challenged us this morning,” Thome said. “We can keep playing as individuals and we can keep feeling like crap after games or we can come together as a team and play a team game and everyone pulls on the rope at the same time.”
And Blasi felt his challenge was fulfilled.
“It’s always nice to win,” coach Rico Blasi said. “I’m really proud of the guys and the way they responded after last night’s game and we had a good meeting this morning.”
The game kicked off after eight minutes with a goal from junior forward Luke Manning, his second of the season, assisted by senior forward Matthew Jennings and graduate student forward Christiano Versich.
“We had a slow start to the season, so I mean obviously we’re looking for this win,” Manning said. “Guys did everything they had to do tonight.”
After two more goals by Jennings five minutes later, and 25 seconds into the second period by junior defender Trevor Zins, Manning scored his third of the season and second of the game.
“Tonight it was just kind of all about playing a team game, and we were able to do that,” Thome said. “And it paid off.”
First-year forward Kyler Grundy shot one more in, assisted by Jennings and Versich, three minutes into the third period before Ferris State senior forward Jake Transit and junior forward Dallas Tulik scored two for the Bulldogs within three minutes of each other in the third period.
In a penalty-heavy game, the Tommies found themselves in 11 penalties, while the Bulldogs suffered 10.
“I’d rather take penalties out of aggressive play and kill those off then tend to be not on your toes and not playing aggressive,” Blasi said.
The Tommies head to a warmer climate next weekend, playing Arizona State University in a two-game matchup at 8:05 p.m. next Friday and Saturday.
Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.