St. Thomas Academy senior forward Christiano Versich picked a good time to break out of a self-assessed scoring “slump.”

The Colorado College commit scored three goals and added an assist in Tuesday’s 9-3 win over Minnetonka that propelled the Cadets into the Schwan Cup Gold Division championship game against Burnsville. 

“I’ve been kind of slumping lately,” Versich said after the game. “So it felt really good.”

Versich scored one goal in a 4-1 victory over Duluth East in the quarterfinals on Dec. 29, and had two assists in a 4-3 victory at Wayzata on Dec. 23. He remains the Cadets' scoring leader in spite of his struggles, with 11 goals and 29 points in eight games.

St. Thomas Academy ended the first period tied 2-2 with the Skippers, but blew open the game with five goals in the second. 

Versich kicked off the scoring run with a goal less than 2 minutes in the period as he skated the puck into the middle of the Minnetonka zone and ripped a low shot past Skippers goaltender Jacob Berger. 

Versich then showed off his silky stickhandling, using a beautiful toe-drag move to beat a Minnetonka defender before launching a shot over Berger’s shoulder for a goal that chased the Skippers senior from the game. 

“I always work on my (stickhandling) in my garage over the summer,” Versich said. “You have to do that to make moves (like that one).”

Cadets coach Tom Vanelli said he was surprised at his team’s second-period scoring outburst, but he wasn't surprised Versich was leading the way. 

“He’s not a streaky scorer,” Vanelli said. “He’s pretty consistent.” 

That consistency stretches back to last season when Versich had 29 goals and 66 points as a junior. 

Vanelli was pleased with St. Thomas Academy’s offensive output, but said his team still needs improvement in its own territory. 

“We were trying to be too cute (early on),” Vanelli said. “We were thinking about offense before taking care of business.”

Junior forward Jake Hardy said the Cadets let their opponents dictate the speed of play in both Schwan Cup games, resulting slow starts for St. Thomas Academy

“We were kind of letting the other team set the pace,” said Hardy, who scored his first two varsity goals in the win over the Skippers. “We’ll make sure to (set the pace) tomorrow.”


Jake Hardy (8) scores a goal on Minnetonka. Photo by Chris Juhn

First Report

Senior forward Christiano Versich scored three goals and had an assist to lead St. Thomas Academy to a 9-3 win over Minnetonka in the second round of the Schwan Cup Gold Division at Ridder Arena on Tuesday night. 

Versich notched a pair of highlight-worthy goals in the second period. Versich scored his second goal with a rocket shot after he completed a beautiful toe-drag move around a Minnetonka defender. 

Junior forward Jake Hardy and senior forward Danny Weihrauch each scored two goals for St. Thomas Academy, which is ranked No. 3 in the Class 2A coaches poll. 

Junior forward Will Jerry scored a goal and had three assists, while senior forward Alec Broetzman had goal and sophomore defenseman Brian Hurley tallied three assists for the Cadets (9-0-0). 

Junior forward Brendan Ryan scored two goals and senior forward Nicholas Greene had a goal to lead Minnetonka (5-5-1).

St. Thomas Academy moves on to play Burnsville in Wednesday’s championship game at Ridder Arena at 8 p.m.

Brendan Ryan, #8 for Minnetonka was checked into the opposing team bench - Photo by Chris Juhn

Brendan Ryan, #8 for Minnetonka was checked into the opposing team bench - Photo by Chris Juhn

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