The St. Thomas men’s hockey team celebrates their overtime goal after confirmation from the referees. The Tommies beat Lake Superior State 4-3 Friday in their first Mason Cup quarterfinal game at Lee and Penny Anderson Arena. (Claudia Ferreiro/The Crest) 
UST jumped out to an early lead before the Lakers scored three unanswered goals in the second period. (Claudia Ferreiro/The Crest) 
The Tommies will play game two at 7:07 p.m. Saturday. (Claudia Ferreiro/The Crest)
Junior defenseman Chase Cheslock sealed the game-winning goal for St. Thomas to beat Lake Superior State 4-3 Friday at the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.
The No. 2 Tommies extended their winning streak against the No. 7 Lakers to four games with the victory.
“(Lake Superior State) is just a very hard team to play against,” coach Rico Blasi said. “They play hard, they play fast, and they’ve got really good skill up front.”
St. Thomas will play Lake Superior State again on Saturday at 7:07 p.m. for the second game of the quarterfinal series at the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.
Cheslock’s first goal of the season came at the perfect time, as his overtime winner capped the Tommies’ relentless offensive pressure, outshooting the Lakers 39-25.
“I was just trying to get the puck on net there,” Cheslock said. “We had bodies on the net, so if I could get one there, I thought we had a good chance of getting something to happen.”
St. Thomas entered their first quarterfinals game as the highest-scoring offense in the CCHA averaging 3.5 goals per game.
When the game started, the Tommies put instant pressure on the Lakers. Senior forward Caige Sterzer scored his fourth goal of the season just over a minute into the game, assisted by senior forward Jake Braccini and junior defenseman Cole Miller.
Following Sterzer’s goal, senior forward Ryan O’Neill scored his fifth goal of the season midway through the first period, assisted by graduate forward Alex Gaffney, giving St. Thomas a 2-0 lead to end the period.
Gaffney ranks second in the CCHA in points with 39.
Despite the strong start to the game for the Tommies, Lake Superior State answered with three straight goals in the second period. The third goal, which gave the Lakers a 3-2 lead, drew controversy over whether the puck fully crossed the goal line and raised loud boos from the Tommie fans.
Even with no momentum against UST heading into the final period, Cheslock explained the team’s “recipe for success.”
“I think this has been a group that we’ve been really committed to the process,” Cheslock said. “I think that didn’t change tonight. We knew if we went out there and executed, good things were gonna happen for us. We all came together there and bought into our process and it’s what we’ve been doing all year.”
In the final period of regulation, O’Neill scored his second of the night, assisted by Gaffney, to tie the game 3-3.
Heading into overtime, senior forward Lucas Wahlin said there was little to say going into overtime.
“If you’re not excited for a playoff overtime game, you probably shouldn’t be in the locker room,” Wahlin said. “The guys were calm, we were composed, but we were also a little excited to go out there and I think it showed. I think we out-worked (Lake Superior State) in overtime.”
Reagan Boschulte can be reached at bosc3829@stthomas.edu.
