NEWS

Three former OJHL players were members of the University of St. Thomas Tommies that recently captured the MIAC championship (photo credit - Matt Higgins/MIAC).

The Tommies were led by former Burlington Cougar, Hamilton Red Wing, Markham Waxer netminder Drew Fielding, who was also named the MIAC co-Player of the Year.

The three OJHL alumni include:

• Drew Fielding - Burlington, Hamilton, Markham (2007-11)
• Tyler Gubb - Stouffville (2006-08)
• Jeremy Hepler - Upper Canada, Markham (2009-11)

Congratulations to all three on the championship victory!

Below is the official press release from the MIAC website (www.miacathletics.com):

In each of the past two seasons, the University of St. Thomas men's hockey team captured the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season championship, but came up short in the conference's postseason tournament. This year, the Tommies again won the MIAC regular-season title, but this time they added an exclamation point, beating Gustavus in a thrilling 2-1 championship game Saturday night to add the MIAC Playoff title to their tremendous season.

Top-seeded UST (21-4-2) scored the lone goal in the first period, answered a Gustie (16-7-4) goal in the second and held on for dear life in the third to capture its first MIAC Playoff championship since 2010. This marked the third-consecutive trip to the conference's postseason title game for the second-seeded Gusties, who were also the runner-up to the Tommies in the regular-season standings.

St. Thomas capitalized on a Gustavus penalty to take the game's first lead late in the first period. With just 3:35 left in the first, Thomas Williams worked his way in front of the crease and netted a power play goal after the Gusties were called for hooking. Nick Nielsen and Tyler Gubb assisted on the score, and UST led 1-0 after one.

Gustavus got back in the game almost immediately in the second period. Star forward Corey Leivermann scored his 18th goal of the season just 1:11 into the second to tie the game at 1-1. Tyler Lapic and Alex Gallen assisted on the game-tying goal. St. Thomas was whistled for a tripping penalty just 18 seconds later to give the Gusties a good shot at their first lead, but UST goalie Drew Fielding and the penalty kill held strong to keep things knotted up.

The game stayed tied until the final minutes of the second. The tempo increased, and St. Thomas answered a Gustavus rush with its own run at the net. Michael Kreig fed Jordan Lovick, who rifled a shot past Gustie goalie John McLean, off the pipe, and into the net with just 1:15 left in the middle frame. St. Thomas left the second period just as it began, with a one-goal lead.

Gustavus gave a comeback its best effort in the third, but the Tommie defense and Fielding clamped down and kept the Gusties' attempts to tie the game at bay. The visitors took 12 of their 30 shots in the final 20 minutes, but Fielding turned away all 12 to help his team hang on for the one-goal win.

In all, Fielding made 29 saves, as Gustavus out-shot St. Thomas 30-26 in the title game. McLean turned away 24 of the Tommies' 26 shots, including all eight in the final period to keep his team within striking distance, but took the loss in goal. Each team only committed one penalty in a physical but clean game. The difference was that UST cashed in on its power play, while GAC did not.

Five different players scored points for St. Thomas, led by the goals from Williams and Lovick, with assists going to Krieg, Gubb and Nielsen. Williams' six shots also led the team. Three different Gusties also tallied points, with Leivermann getting the lone goal and Lapic and Gallen getting the assists. Leivermann and Adam Smyth each had four shots to share the team lead.

Thanks to Saturday's MIAC Playoff championship, St. Thomas received the conference's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division III Men's Hockey Tournament. Gustavus will have to wait to find out if it will also join the field as an at-large selection when the field is announced Sunday at 9 p.m. The Division III bracket will be announced during a live selection show on NCAA.com.

Fans can re-live all the action of the 2013-14 MIAC Men's Hockey Playoffs on the tournament's home page, which includes scores, stats, recaps, photos and more. This season the MIAC also added a new interactive bracket so fans could track the tournament in bracket form, and follow the scores, matchups, and coverage of each game. Fans can continue to connect on social media through the MIAC's Facebook page or Twitter account, using the hashtags #MIACMH and #MIACPlayoffs.

2013-14 MIAC Men's Hockey Playoffs

| 2013-14 MIAC Men's Hockey Playoffs Interactive Bracket | 

Quarterfinal: Friday, Feb. 28
No. 4 St. Olaf 5, No. 5 Concordia 3 
 
 Semifinals: Saturday, March 1
 No. 1 St. Thomas 2, No. 4 St. Olaf 1
 No. 2 Gustavus 3, No. 3 Saint John's 2  

Championship: Saturday, March 8
 No. 1 St. Thomas 2, No. 2 Gustavus 1

St. Thomas receives automatic bid to NCAA Tournament