St. Thomas 6, Yellowjackets 2

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn.: Saturday night, the Yellowjacket men's hockey team got the start it wanted. Playing on the road, against an opponent that's starting to heat up, the Yellowjackets came out and carried the play against St. Thomas, holding a decided edge in shots on goal and time in the offensive zone.

Unfortunately, that was the best part of the game for the Yellowjackets. Penalties stalled the momentum the Yellowjackets had going early and St. Thomas took advantage, scoring three times in the first and second periods on the way to a 6-2 victory.

In the early going things were going well for the Yellowjackets, who looked to be on the verge of taking the early lead, but Brandon Barillaro (Alexandria, Ontario/Holy Trinity Catholic) saw his open net chance taken away on a big save from St. Thomas goaltender Andrew Rohkohl. Moments later the Yellowjackets took two penalties less than a minute apart. And although St. Thomas didn't score on the power play, they did keep the puck in the offensive zone and eventually grab the lead.

Johnny Panvica started the scoring for St. Thomas, poking home a loose puck at 10:39 of the first to make it 1-0. John Peterson converted a breakaway at 10:29 and in the process drew a penalty, which led to a Frankie Spellman goal at 16:42 to give the Tommies a 3-0 lead.

The Yellowjackets were able to cut into the lead less than a minute later when Connor Hamonic (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey Collegiate) scored his first goal of the year, snapping a wrist shot from the blue line past Rohkohl to make it 3-1 at 17:14. Rohkohl got a piece of it but not enough, as the puck snuck past him and across the goal line. Chad Lopez (Arlington, Texas/University of Texas at Arlington) and Alec MacKenzie (Ottawa, Ontario/École Secondaire Garneau) assisted.

In the final minute of the first period, with the Yellowjackets on the power play, Troy York (Plano, Texas/West) was assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct for checking from behind, and once the four-on-four expired in the first minute of the second, the Tommies went back on the power play.

Brett Gravelle made it a 4-1 game with a power play goal just 2:44 into the second. Gravelle extended the lead at 13:37 of the second, finishing off a nice passing play with a deflection that eluded Yellowjacket goaltender A.J. Smith (Keller, Texas/Southlake Carroll). Derek Olmschenk added another goal for the Tommies at 17:07 of the second to make it 6-1.

It was a tough night for Smith, who was taken out of the game after allowing six goals on 20 shots in 40 minutes of play. He gave way to Oscar Svensson (Södertälje, Sweden/Haga Gymnasium), who stopped all 10 shots he faced in the third period.

The Yellowjackets closed out the scoring with a power play goal in the final minute of the game. Will Blake (Champlin, Minn./Breck) picked up his third goal of the year, jumping on a rebound at the top of the goal crease to make the final score 6-2. Daniel Litchke (Superior, Wis./Superior) and Bruno Birzitis (Riga, Latvia/Riga Distance Education Secondary) got the assists.

Each team had six power play chances in the contest, the Tommies converting twice and the Yellowjackets once. Each team also took eight penalties in the game.

The Yellowjackets outshot St. Thomas 35-30 in the game.