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Special Teams Stand Out in St. Thomas Academy Win Over Cretin-Derham Hall

02/01/2017, 6:00am CST
By Peter Odney
St. Thomas Academy’s Robbie Stucker (2) scores in the Cadets’ 6-1 win over Cretin-Derham Hall on Tuesday night. Credit: Peter Odney.

St. Thomas Academy’s Robbie Stucker (2) scores in the Cadets’ 6-1 win over Cretin-Derham Hall on Tuesday night. Credit: Peter Odney.

There are few teams in the state that can turn their penalty kill unit into a scoring threat, but St. Thomas Academy opponents soon realize that the Cadets are one of those few.

The Cadets scored two shorthanded goals and killed off six penalties en route to a 6-1 win over Cretin-Derham Hall on Tuesday night at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights.

“We take a lot of pride in being on our toes instead of our heels,” St. Thomas Academy co-head coach Tom Vanelli said of his penalty kill after the win. “We’re having a very successful year killing penalties, and we don’t want to get lazy about it now,” Vanelli added.

The Cadets, who kill penalties at a rate of 92.7 percent, excelled in all aspects of the game, turning the contest into a track meet on skates and wearing down the Raiders with an impressive amount of speed and depth.

“We’ve got some pretty good balance, and the ability to get up and down the ice pretty good, and be physical when we need to,” Vannelli said.

Senior defenseman Robbie Stucker scored two goals in the win for the Cadets, and said the Cadet defense is equally responsible for creating scoring chances.

“All the offense starts with the defense,” Stucker said. “So you’ve got to take care of the d-zone first.”

An ideal component for the Cadets’ blistering pace, Stucker is adept at rushing the puck forward from his spot on defense.

“When you play a lot, you really have to pick and choose when you go up,” Stucker said, maturely admitting that he made multiple rush mistakes during Tuesday’s victory. “I think once you see an opportunity and they’re sitting back a little bit, you can skate up,” Stucker explained.

Stucker’s two goals give him six for the season, and his 33 total points are tops for the Cadets, ranked No. 10 in the latest Class AA state coaches’ poll.

Nico Vega, Carter Winkler, Seth Pribbernow and Payton Matsui all added goals for the Cadets (15-4-1), while Matt Gleason scored the lone goal of the game for Cretin-Derham Hall (12-6-0).

Matt Gleason of Cretin-Derham Hall scores the Raiders' lone goal in the loss. Credit: Peter Odney.

Matt Gleason of Cretin-Derham Hall scores the Raiders' lone goal in the loss. Credit: Peter Odney.

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Tag(s): State Of Hockey  News