Saint Thomas picked up its first signature win of the season Saturday night, stunning reigning national champion Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4-3.
Along the way, the Tommies ended a nine-game losing streak to the Pointers that dates back to the 2005-06 season.
Johnny Panvica scored the game-winning goal with 1:52 left in regulation, lifting the Tommies to their second win of the year.
Brett Gravelle and Derek Olmschenk scored goals in the second period to erase a 2-1 deficit and Luke Readetic tied the game with just under seven minutes to play.
Cam Buggrabe rose to the occasion in goal, stopping 30 shots. The Tommies took 28 shots on goal while the Pointers (2-2) came through with 33 shots.
Outside the top 15 going into the game, the Tommies should rise with the win over the top-ranked Pointers.
St. Thomas is unbeaten in its last three games. It has won twice during that stretch.
The other big game of the weekend featured Lake Forest completing a sweep of third-ranked St. Norbert Saturday night with a 4-3 win. The Foresters opened the weekend with a 1-0 win.
Zach Feldman scored his first goal of the year in the win and it was the Forester’s third power play goal of the season.
Aaron O’Neill, Jack Clark and David Cohen also scored for Lake Forest. Boyd DiClemente made 29 saves in the win. Lake Forest remains unbeaten on the year, improving to 3-0-1.
Here a handful of other highlights from around the west region over the weekend.
Damon gets it done: Justin Damon recorded his first collegiate win in, and he did it in impressive fashion, helping Gustavus notch a 2-0 win over Wisconsin-Stout Saturday night.
The Gusties bounced back from Friday’s 4-2 loss to Wis.-Stevens Point, partly thanks to Damon, who stopped 27 shots.
Less than four minutes into the game, Gustavus took the lead.
Two clutch saves by Damon early gave the Gusties a chance to put the first goal on the board. And the Gusties responded with Tyler Rock capping a two-on-one break with the score. Tyler Ebner tallied the assist.
Logan Norman scored the second and final goal of the night. Reid Brown assisted on the goal.
Both teams failed to score on the power play, with Gustavus going 0-for-3 and the Blue Devils coming up empy on four opportunities.
Gustavus is off to a 3-1 start to the season and has scored two or more goals in all three wins. The Gusties are well on their way to topping last year’s win mark of seven games.
Yellowjackets dominate Cardinals: The season couldn’t have gotten off to a better start for Wisconsin-Superior Friday night. The Yellowjackets scored three times in the second period and four times in the fourth in a 7-0 victory.
Artur Terchiyev helped lead the way, scoring a goal and dishing out two assists. Chad Lopez punched in a goal as well to go along with a pair of assists. Coltyn Bates came through with a goal and an assist and Jordan Martin dished out two assists as the Yellowjackets used a team effort to nail down the win.
Oscar Svensson started in goal and notched the second shutout of his career, recording 22 saves. The Yellowjackets capped the weekend with a 3-2 win over St. Olaf.
Blugolds put offense on display: Wisconsin-Eau Claire scored 12 goals in its two games over the weekend, including seven in a 7-2 win over St. Olaf Friday.
Jake Bresser scored twice for the Blugolds while Andrew McGlynn tallied three assists for Wis.-Eau Claire..The Blugolds capped the weekend with a 5-2 win over Saint Mary’s on Saturday night to improve to 2-0-1 on the season.
Zach Dyment stopped 21 shots to pick up his first win of the season. Bresser and McGlynn scored goals in Saturday’s win as well and Riley McVeigh stopped 13 shots.
Big night for Balsamo: Dino Balsamo turned in a stellar performance Saturday night, recording a hat track in a 5-4 win over Marian in NCHA play. Balsamo scored twice off the power play.
Balsamo now has six goals, the most in the league, and his point total stands at eight. Adrian lost Friday’s game to Marian but with Saturday’s victory, the Bulldogs improve to 26-4-2 all-time against the Sabres.
Andrew Bellant dished out two assists, pushing his season total to six as he continues his great start since transferring in from Michigan Tech.
Nick Tallarico tallied 24 saves in his debut for the Bulldogs, who boucned back after a 5-4 loss to Marian the night before and ended a two-game winless streak.
