For the first time in the 2023-24 Mason Cup playoffs, two teams faced off in a must-win game three quarterfinal. In a huge upset, Lake Superior State beat the favorite St. Thomas on away ice to advance to the semifinal round, 3-2.
The Tommies had a slight lead heading into the third period, 2-1. The Lakers went scoreless for 10 minutes in the third until Reagan Milburn tied the game off a perfect pass by Grant Hindman.
When the game looked like it was heading to overtime with seven seconds left to play in regulation, Dawson Tritt scored his 13th and biggest goal of the season, sending LSS to the next round and eliminating the second-seeded Tommies early.
With how close of a game it was, there is almost no place to assign blame for the Tommies. Goaltender Aaron Trotter saved 28 pucks, allowing three goals for a .904 save percentage, by no means a performance deserving of negative critique.
Across the ice, Ethan Langenegger saved the same amount of shots but allowed one less goal, the difference in the game and the season for both teams.
St. Thomas, who were the one seed and Mason Cup championship favorites for the majority of the year, were beaten in their own arena in the first round, the biggest upset of the playoffs.
Lake Superior State punched their ticket to the semifinal game where they will travel to Bemidji, Minn. to face the Bemidji State Beavers. They will play on March 16 at 7:07 p.m. CT where the winner will advance to the Mason Cup Championship game.
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