MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. - The Lake Superior State hockey team earned a 5-1 win over the St. Thomas Tommies on Saturday, Feb. 19 at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. in the team's final Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) regular season road game of the season. With the victory, the Lakers improve to 15-16-1 overall and 11-13-0 in conference play this year.
The Lakers had five different goal scorers with sophomore defenseman Jacob Bengtsson, sophomore forward Harrison Roy, junior forward Louis Boudon, senior forward Miroslav Mucha, and sophomore forward Tyler Williams each netting goals in the win. Sophomore goaltender Ethan Langenegger stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced from St. Thomas as he recorded his eighth win of the season.
The Lakers took a 1-0 early in the game with Bengtsson netting the game's first goal at 1:02 of the opening period. Bengtsson's third goal of the season was assisted by Logan Jenuwine and Boudon. Jenuwine connected a pass to Boudon in the neutral zone, and the Laker captain carried the puck into the offensive zone. Boudon skated down the wing and slid a backhand pass to Bengtsson, who was driving to the net on the play. Bengtsson redirected the puck as he crashed the net to give his team the lead in the game.
Just over a minute later, Roy doubled the Lakers lead when he scored his sixth goal of the season, and the eventual game winning goal, at 2:15 of the first period. Mucha forced a turnover behind the St. Thomas net as the senior forward pressured the Tommies defender while on the forecheck. Mucha circled past the goal line with the puck and sent the puck towards the front of the St. Thomas net. Roy was just outside the crease and batted the puck past Thome for a 2-0 Laker lead.
After the Lakers were assessed a faceoff violation penalty at 4:31 of the first period, the Tommies went on the power play for the first time in the game. Boudon, one of the Lakers top penalty killers, scored his third shorthanded goal of the season to give the Lakers a 3-0 over the Tommies at 4:49 of the first period. Senior defenseman Jacob Nordqvist chipped the puck up to Boudon, who skated out of the Lakers end and into the offensive zone with the puck. Boudon sent a wrist shot on goal from between the circles that beat Thome on his glove side for his team-best 14th goal of the season.
The second period opened with the Lakers holding a 3-0 lead over the Tommies. St. Thomas came close to getting on the scoresheet at 7:29 of the second period when Blaine Warnert was awarded a penalty shot after being taken down on a breakaway opportunity. Warnert's shot hit the post and stayed out of the net as the score remained 3-0.
At the 8:36 mark of the second period, the Tommies would beat Langenegger when Andrew Kangas scored to make it a 3-1 game. Kangas' goal was assisted by Christiano Versich.
The Lakers would regain a three-goal lead over the Tommies at 4:58 of the third period when Mucha netted his ninth goal of the season. St. Thomas was set up in the Lakers defensive end following a rush up the ice but Nordqvist made a strong defensive play to knock the puck away from a Tommies skater. Mucha jumped on the loose and skated up the ice on an odd-man rush with Jenuwine. The Bytca, Slovakia native elected to take the shot on the two-on-one and beat St. Thomas goaltender Jacob Berger for a 4-1 lead.
The final goal in the game came at 12:18 of the third period when Williams scored his first career goal to give the Lakers a 5-1 lead. The Tommies were skating with an empty net as the team had six attackers on the ice looking to spark the team's offense. Williams and sophomore forward Joshua Wildauer combined to force a turnover at the Laker blueline. Williams batted the puck out of the Laker zone to Wildauer, who spun around with the puck and found Williams open in the neutral zone. Williams sent the puck into the empty net from the top of the circle to give the Lakers a four-goal lead with just under eight minutes left in regulation.
The Lakers would clinch the win by a final score of 5-1 to cap off the team's regular season CCHA road schedule. Lake Superior State will wrap up the CCHA regular season next weekend at home against the Bowling Green Falcons in a series that will determine home ice in the opening round of the CCHA playoffs. Heading into the regular season finale, the Lakers and the Falcons are tied for fourth place in the CCHA standings as two teams are tied with 33 points.
The series against the Falcons will open on Friday, Feb. 25 at 7:07 p.m. at the Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. and the two teams will complete the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 6:07 p.m. Prior to Saturday's game at the Taffy Abel Arena, the team will hold a pre-game ceremony to honor its graduating senior class.
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