After leading 1-0 for nearly 58 minutes, St. Thomas looked as though it would be making its way to the MIAC championship game once again, but two goals from St. John’s defender Joe Freemark and forward Andrew Commers in a span of about six minutes rewarded the Johnnies with a 2-1 overtime victory in the MIAC semifinals Saturday night at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
Freemark netted the equalizer with 1:40 left in the third period, and Commers scored the game-winner with 3:34 remaining in overtime. Boesser said his Tommies got out-fought in the waning moments of the game.
“They were pushing hard; they were trying to tie the game,” Boesser said. “They just got out-battled.”
St. Thomas (13-7-5 overall) spent most of the game overpowering St. John’s (13-9-4 overall). The Tommies outshot the Johnnies through the first two periods and registered the lone goal in those periods from defender Johnny Roisum.
As a delayed penalty was called on St. John’s, a swarm of Johnnies raced toward the puck near the right sideboards as it was about to leave their zone, but Roisum hustled down the rink and snagged the puck first.
Roisum moved parallel to the blue toward the top of the slot and then unleashed a shot that maneuvered through plenty of bodies before making its way past goalie Saxton Sole. This was Sole’s only blemish of the game en route to stopping 23 shots.
As the minutes slowly expired in the third period, St. John’s offense quickly accelerated. The Johnnies pummeled Morris with shots, but he denied any chance. Morris eventually turned away 24 shots in the game.
With just under two minutes left in the third period, one shot from forward Huba Sekesi bounced off the left pad of Morris, and Freemark scooped up the rebound and put it in the back of the net. The game-winner from Commers was a slap shot that came from just above the right faceoff circle and was unassisted.
The loss gives Morris a 13-7-5 record on the season, and this was the senior’s lone season starting in the crease for the Tommies, given that he backed up All-American and former Division III Player of the Year Drew Fielding.
“He (Morris) should leave this rink with his head held high. He played so well; he had a couple of unbelievable saves,” Boesser said.
Morris is one of nine seniors on this roster who has played his final game in the purple. The other eight are defenders Michael Pieper, Steve Sorensen and John Kirtland and forwards Nick Nielsen, Connor McBride, Bobby Murphy, Willie Faust and Jordan Lovick. Through their four years at St. Thomas, they’ve tallied a 63-30-13. Boesser mentioned that these seniors were one of the first classes to commit to the culture change three years ago.
“I was pretty sad in there, and that’s what makes our time so special in there; they really care,” Boesser said. “When you see grown men crying, you know they care.”
Jesse Krull can be reached at krul7386@stthomas.edu