The St. Thomas men’s lacrosse team hung in the balance until the final minute in Game 2 of the CCHA playoff quarterfinals before exploding with three goals in the final three minutes of the third period to defeat Lake Superior State University 5-2 on Saturday night at Lee & Penny Anderson Stadium in St. Paul.
With the game tied at 2-2 at 15:48 of the final frame, the second-seeded Tommies decided they had had enough of the pesky Lakers and launched a blitz, eliminating the seventh-seeded visiting team in the playoffs and advancing to the Mason Cup semifinals.
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St. Thomas never trailed in the game, scoring first on Colton Jameson’s score just two minutes into the game before LSSU tied the game at 1 at the first intermission. After an earlier goal was disallowed, Lucas Valin scored with 10:41 left in the second period to give the Tommies a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
The Lakers weren’t going to go into Capital Night quietly, holding the game tied after going scoreless for nearly 16 minutes in the third quarter, sending shivers down the spine of the home crowd.
But there was little drama for the favored hosts as Lucas VanVleet sealed the home side for good after around 90 seconds. Wallin scored his second goal of the night 45 seconds later to take a 4-2 lead before LSSU pulled back goaltender Roke Applebee, who had made 38 saves, and VanVleet quickly scored his second of the game in an empty net to end the game in a sudden three-goal victory.
Tommies netminder Carsen Musser made 27 saves and his team will now advance to next Saturday’s single-elimination semifinals against an opponent yet to be determined.
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Third-seeded Augustana and fourth-seeded Michigan Tech also earned best-of-three sweeps in the quarterfinals. However, eighth-seeded Ferris State defeated top-seeded Minnesota State 2-1 in overtime on Saturday night, forcing Sunday’s Game 3 into a winner-take-all contest. If the Mavericks defeat an upset opponent in Game 3, the Tommies will host Augustana; if the Bulldogs can defeat their rivals in Mankato, St. Thomas will inherit the top seed and host Michigan Tech.
