Box Score Lake Superior State struck for three goals in the second period, but dropped Game One of the Mason Cup Quarterfinals 4-3 in overtime to St. Thomas Friday night in St. Paul, MN.
 
Chase Cheslock's shot from the point at 7:51 of extra time found its way in, putting the Tommies (19-11-5. 15-7-4 CCHA) ahead in the best-of-three series. Lake State (11-21-3, 8-16-2 CCHA) faces elimination in Saturday night's game and must win to force a deciding third game.

Rorke Applebee played an extraordinary game, making key saves of all varieties. Pad stops, scrambles, glove saves – the sophomore goaltender showed why he was named to the Richter Award Watch List this season with a number of tremendous stops.
 
"We get that every single night from Rorke," Laker Head Coach Damon Whitten said. "It's what we know, and what we expect, and he delivers. It's not just the routine saves. It's the three to five per night that most guys around the country aren't making that keeps you in it. Even in overtime, he makes a huge save on the 2-on-1, and you feel like it's your night."
 
The Lakers trailed 2-0 at the end of the first, giving up two early goals and then killing off a five-minute major penalty called against Hadley Hudak. Whitten said that while he didn't love the team's start, he thought the penalty kill kickstarted the team's excellent second frame.
 
"I thought the five minute penalty kill was tremendous," he said. "It gave us some energy, got our legs going and got us into it. Then a great response. We had a great second period, took the lead. It felt like a game we were going to hang on to."

The game saw plenty of odd bounces, particularly in the Lakers favor during the three-goal outburst in the second period. As Whitten reminds his team often, you make your own luck. The Lakers earned it by driving hard at the net and attacking with menacing intent.
 
Carter Batchelder poked the puck into the net at 6:04 on the power play, after a shot by Johnny Druskinis plunked off a body and landed in front of the goal. Tommies goaltender Carsen Musser couldn't locate the loose puck, and Batchelder stabbed it home through the five-hole to get the Lakers on the board, still down 2-1.
 
Connor Milburn sniped one over Musser's shoulder at 14:04 from Hunter Ramos and Sasha Teleguine. Milburn spaced well on the right wing and took a pass from Ramos in his skates. The Laker co-captain quickly dug it out and sent a missile whistling in under the bar to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Then another odd bounce put the Lakers in front at 18:01 of the second, credited to John Herrington from Pierson Sobush and Carter Batchelder. The puck caromed off of Musser and into the air, where Herrington whacked it on his backhand. The puck pinballed off the shoulder of a Tommies defender, off the post, back off the defender and back off the post. A goal was called live as Sobush and Herrington vigorously pointed at the net, and an official review confirmed the score. Lake State had taken a 3-2 lead, controlling the pace of play in the second period.
 
Whitten said, "I thought we had a really good push in the second period. We got going, we responded, we played well. It's just disappointing we couldn't hold on to that lead."
 
Ryan O'Neill scored at nearly identical times in the first and third periods for St. Thomas, at 11:51 of the opening period and 11:50 of the third. His heavy wrister under the bar in the third tied the game at three to force overtime.
 
Applebee made several more special saves before Cheslock scored the winner.
 
"I think the guys competed hard, handled a lot of adversity that came our way with the start and the five minute penalty kill, with the short bench that we had," said Whitten. "They deserve a lot of credit for competing. But you don't get measured by that. You've got to find a way to close it out, bounce back tomorrow and get it done.
 
"We know Rorke Applebee will be ready to go. We know our team will be ready to go. Who can get it done? Who's going to make that impact the other way? Win the opening ten minutes, win a game and push this to three."
 
Game 2 between Lake Superior State and St. Thomas begins at 8:07 PM EST on Saturday night at the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena. Watch live on Midco Sports Plus or listen live on 99.5 YES FM with James Cardarelli on the call.