Off to the chip
Musser, Tommies reach CCHA finals
Carsen Musser and St. Thomas won their third straight CCHA Playoff game as the Tommies were 2-1 winners over Augustana Saturday at Lee and Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul. The win gives UST a 21-11-5 record and a berth in the championship game.
St. Thomas will play Minnesota State (21-10-7) at 7 p.m. Friday at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato. The Mavericks defeated Michigan Tech 7-2 in Saturday’s other semifinal.
Musser stopped 24 of 25 shots faced in net to put his record at 11-5-3.
Musser stopped nine in the first, four in the second, and 11 in the third including one late in the game when the Vikings had an extra attacker.
The Sherburn native, a sophomore, lowered his CCHA goals against average to 2.29 and raised his save percentage to .910.
The victory ended a four-game winless streak for UST against Augustana.
Friday will be a rematch of last year’s championship game won by the Mavericks 4-2.
The winner gets the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament while the loser will have to see if it gets a bid through the NPI (NCAA Percentage Index).
The top 16 teams in the NPI will get in the tournament.
St. Thomas is currently 14th in the NPI and Minnesota State is 17th.