The first game ever played at the new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena was a wild one.
The St. Thomas women's hockey team rallied with four third-period goals against Providence to send the game into overtime, but the Friars came away with the 7-6 win on a goal by Reichen Kirchmaier less than three minutes into the extra session.
That capped off a wild ending, in which the Tommies scored four straight goals in the third period to take a short-lived 6-5 lead, only to have Providence tie the score in the final minute of play.
The game-winner was the third goal of the game for Kirchmaier, who led the Friars in scoring last season.
Ilsa Lindaman scored twice for the Tommies, including the goal that put St. Thomas ahead with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
Lindaman played prep hockey at Duluth Marshall, and was an all-state first team selection and Ms. Hockey finalist in her senior season.
St. Thomas coach Bethany Brausen was on the WCCO Morning News and talked about needing to compartmentalize the emotions that come with a brand new facility.
"That's gonna be the biggest challenge of today's game day, is just managing those emotions," says Brausen. "Because how do you not come in and just feel over the moon and overwhelmed and excited. But I do think that's fuel to play too. And so we talk a lot about never too high, never too low and in that management of emotion."
The Tommie men's hockey team hosts Providence later Friday night and the same two matchups happen on Saturday. The UST basketball season begins there November 8, with a men/women doubleheader between the Tommies and Army.
The arena was built after Lee and Penny Anderson donated $75 million for the project. At that time, the gift was the largest-ever single donation made to any university in Minnesota.
"Certainly I would say this is quite the cherry on top to now be able to walk around these facilities, this $190 million building," Brausen explains. "I just don't know that there's another premier arena like this for women's hockey."
The need for new facilities for both hockey and basketball after the University of St. Thomas made the jump from Division III to Division I, which was approved by the NCAA in 2020.
The school and other local donors helped foot the rest of the bill for the arena which didn't come without controversy, with neighbors concerned about the environmental impact, inadequate space for traffic, and parking around the arena.
Those concerns were eventually dismissed by appeals courts and the Minnesota Supreme Court paving the way for the completion of the arena.