The St. Thomas men’s hockey team sparked a furious comeback rally in the third period and defeated the Minnesota State Mavericks 2-1 on Saturday at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
The Tommies (8-8-1, 6-5-0 CCHA) stole a victory from the Mavericks (7-6-2, 5-3-1) after scoring two goals in the final seven minutes of the game. St. Thomas goaltender Jake Sibell stopped all but one of the Maverick’s 28 shots, helping St. Thomas split the series after a loss on Friday night in Mankato.
“Jake Sibell is him!” Sophomore backup goaltender Aaron Trotter said after the game.
The Tommies came out ready to start the game, skating fast, controlling the pace and outplaying the Mavericks for the majority of the first period. Mankato would take over and slow down the pace midway through the first.
Mankato junior forward Kaden Bohlsen had a one-on-one breakaway with Sibell five minutes into the first period and was shut down by the Tommie netminder, making a highlight reel save with his left pad fully extended, slamming the door shut on Bohlsen’s opportunity.
Five minutes into the second period, Jake Sibell made a save off of his helmet, leaving the rebound to fall to Sibell’s feet. This created a party in front of Sibell, with all of the invitees being Maverick forwards. Mankato sophomore forward Adam Eisele took advantage of this, and was able to chip the puck behind Sibell for a 1-0 lead.
Maverick junior forward Connor Gregga brought down fifth-year Tommie forward Luke Manning with 13 minutes to go in the second period and was sent to the penalty box for hooking. The Tommies had a couple great looks on the resulting powerplay but ultimately were unable to cash in on the opportunity.
Mankato junior goaltender Keenan Rancier made a superman-like diving save on a shot from Tommie sophomore forward Lucas Whalin with 12 minutes to go in the third period, refusing to let the Tommies tie the game.
The Tommies would surge as time ticked down, etching ever closer to tying the game shift by shift. Sophomore forward Luc Laylin would do just that with a backhanded shot with 6:32 left in the 3rd, taking advantage of a wide-open net after being in the right place for a rebound.
“(My) eyes got pretty big there for a second, but all I could do in that moment was put it in as fast as possible,” Laylin said about the play.
Graduate Student forward Noah Prokop would give the Tommies the lead less than three minutes later with a shot from the top of the circle, sending the St. Thomas Ice Arena into a frenzy.
“If you stick to it and do the right things long enough, you’re going to have success somewhere,” Prokop said.
Prokop also said that the locker room had decided upon a new title for Sibell, the evening’s winning goaltender.
“We deemed him ‘king of the north.’ It’s his new nickname. He’s a solid, awesome kid, and an even better goalie.” Prokop said.
The Tommies fought tooth and nail to defend their lead with three minutes left to play in the game. Minnesota State pulled their goaltender with 54 seconds to go, but it wouldn’t end up making a difference.
The student section roared for the Tommies to finish and erupted when junior forward Matthew Gleason stepped in front of a last-second Maverick slapshot to secure the victory.
“He’s a warrior, and he’ll block anything if the game is on the line,” coach Rico Blasi said after the game. “He’d try to eat a puck if he had to.”
The Tommies have a long winter break in their schedule before returning to action at Gutterson Ice Rink in Burlington, Vt. when they take on the University of Vermont Catamounts in Tommies’ final series of 2023 on Dec. 29.
“It’s obviously a big win against a very good hockey team. Now we got a little break, and we get to enjoy it for a bit. We get ready for exams and then for christmas, and then all of a sudden here we go for the second half of the season. We’re going to enjoy this one.” Blasi said.
Karl Warner can be reached at warn5356@stthomas.edu.