Goaltender Drew Fielding’s 30 saves weren’t enough to hold off Wisconsin-Stevens Point, as the St. Thomas men’s hockey team fell 3-0 Friday night at St. Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights.
St. Thomas (4-1 overall, 2-0 MIAC) entered the game ranked 12th in the U.S. College Hockey Online standings. However, the Tommies couldn’t handle the No. 6-ranked Pointers’ (5-0 overall) heavy, physical play and were ultimately overwhelmed as the game wore on.
“I’m just not happy with my team right now. The compete level was not there with all 20 players and we need all 20 when you play a good team like this. (Stevens Point is) a good team, we just didn’t compete,” coach Jeff Boeser said.
Buoyed by a few strong saves from Fielding early in the game, the Tommies gained momentum in the first period and matched the quick-skating Pointers. After the teams exchanged a pair of power plays, they went into the first intermission tied at zero.
The Pointers distanced themselves from the Tommies in the second frame.
Three minutes into the second period, St. Thomas forward Thomas Williams picked up a loose puck behind the Stevens Point defense and carried it on a breakaway, but Stevens Point goaltender Brandon Jaeger was equal to the task and stopped the attack keeping the score level.
Only seconds later, Stevens Point carried the puck into the St. Thomas zone and drove it behind the net. After winning the battle behind the net, Stevens Point worked the puck to the front of where a Pointer forward was waiting and fired a shot into the back of the net.
“I think, as a team, when we got down a couple goals we kind of hung our heads a little bit. That’s something we all could work on,” defender Michael Krieg said. “I think, to a person, each guy on the team needs to look at themselves in the mirror and say, ‘You know, did I give everything I had today?’”
After going down a goal, the Tommies responded with a series of chances for the remainder of the period. Despite having multiple second-period odd-man rushes, the Tommies couldn’t capitalize on their scoring chances.
With nearly two minutes remaining in the second period, the Tommies entered the Pointer zone with a 2-on-1 rush. After the Tommies failed to score on the attack, the Pointers recovered the puck and went the other way.
A Stevens Point forward carried the puck into the St. Thomas zone on the left wing and sent it into the middle of the ice, leading to Stevens Point’s second goal of the game,
“Stevens Point is a good team. They play good team defense. We had our chances; I think we just need to bear down a little when we get those chances and really focus,” Krieg said. “That’s the difference between being a good team and a great team right now. We had our chances, we just didn’t bury them.”
Stevens Point added a third goal with under eight minutes remaining in the third period. With a three goal lead and time winding down, the Pointers were content to take up a defensive posture and cruise to the 3-0 win.
“We just need to bear down,” forward Tyler Gubb said. “I mean, we had three or four 2-on-1’s and odd-man rushes where the puck needs to go in the back of the net, and it didn’t tonight. We’re going to get our bounces; we just need to work for them.”
After a frustrating loss against Stevens Point, St. Thomas prepares to rebound against Wisconsin-Stout Saturday. Gubb said the team is looking to play “a complete game” against Stout.
“When we win we can’t be too high, and (when we lose) we can’t be too low … we have to learn from this loss and just come back and bounce back tomorrow,” Gubb said. “I think we have a lot of leaders on this team, and everyone could step up a little bit and push a little harder and start winning more battles.”
Jacob Sevening can be reached at seve8586@stthomas.edu.