St. Thomas’ men’s hockey team will play their first home game in Division I at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday Oct. 3 at 5 p.m. against St. Cloud State University in a non-conference matchup.

The game will be the second of the Tommies historic Division I season as they face St. Cloud the night before on the road.

St. Cloud finished last season as the NCAA runner-up with an overall record of 20-11. The Tommies finished their final Division III season with a 6-1-2 record in a shortened season.

First-year head coach Rico Blasi announced his 27-man roster in late August, 17 of which are newcomers and 11 of which are returners from last year’s Division III team.

The game will serve as an introduction to Division I for St. Thomas fans as well as Tommie players. Roughly half of Blasi’s roster have Division I experience and nearly all played high levels of junior hockey such as the NAHL and USHL.

Tickets for the Oct. 3 contest will be available Friday Sept. 10 at 10 a.m.

Scout Mason can be reached Maso7275@stthomas.edu.