MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) hockey program (16-18-1) pulled away for a 4-1 victory over the Tommies of St. Thomas (14-19-2) in game 1 of the CCHA Mason Cup Playoff Quarterfinals on Friday. 

"A quality road win in the first game of the playoffs," said Laker Head Coach Damon Whitten. "We get to enjoy it for about 30-40 minutes, but it's all business and we are turning the page to tomorrow night."

Both teams battled throughout most of the opening period, feeling one another out, but after Cam Kungle (Red Deer, Alta.) came away with the loose puck, he was able to push it ahead to Connor Milburn (Kamloops, B.C.) who raced ahead from the right side before wrapping the puck around St. Thomas goaltender Aaron Trotter for his second goal in as many games to open up the scoring. However, the Tommies were able to respond in the closing moments of the opening period to tie up the score at 1-1 going into the first intermission. 

Midway through the second period, Milburn would then go on to knock the puck away from the Tommies before Jared Westcott (Imperial, Mo.) raced down the ice to put his team back in front with his team-leading 18th goal of the season. 

Both teams would then lock down defensively, holding each other scoreless for a stretch of over 20 minutes of game time. 

"This time of year you have to defend," said Whitten. I thought for the most part we defended well as a team, and that's very important this time of year"

Timo Bakos (Augsburg, Germany) would then make life a little bit easier for his team, which had been defending the puck well throughout the night, by tacking on the insurance at the 16:18 mark of the third period after putting back a rebound to give the Lakers a two-goal lead with John Herrington (Hudson's Hope, B.C.) and captain Harrison Roy (Lakeville, Mass.). 

The Tommies would then pull their goaltender but the Lakers' other captain, Artyom Borshyov (Vitebsk, Belarus) made them pay shortly thereafter with the empty-netter to ice the game away and give LSSU a 1-0 lead in the series. 

"Whenever [Borshyov] played tonight, I thought he was outstanding," said Whitten. "The captain, a big strong player that understands playoff hockey. Those are the guys you need. We saw the offense from Milburn and Westcott with those goals, and [Borshyov] with a big empty-net goal to really end this, but Arty played really well from the drop of the puck with toughness and urgency, and did exactly what you need this time of year."

Ethan Langenegger (Kamloops, B.C.) picked up the win between the pipes after stopping 20 of 21 shots faced, and Milburn finished with 2 points, a +3 rating, and a pair of blocks. 

"It's going to be even tougher tomorrow when you are trying to end the season of somebody," said Whitten. "Their desperation level is going to be up from the drop of the puck, and we need to match that energy."

The Lakers will be looking to advance to the CCHA Mason Cup Semifinals with a win on Saturday, March 9 when they face the Tommies for game 2 of the series with puck drop scheduled for 6:07 p.m. Central Standard Time.