For the second time in the first season of NCAA play for the Aurora University hockey proigram, the Spartans matched up with a ranked opponent in the University of St. Thomas Tommies on Sunday, January 18 in St. Paul, Minnesota. St. Thomas defeated the Spartans 4-1.

Seeing time in goal for the first time for AU was transfer Matt Bartels and the Tommies tested him throughout as Bartels finished the day with 46 saves in 50 shots.

AU fell behind in the first period when St. Thomas scored at 5:53 into the opening period and 1:28 into the second period the home team made it a 2-0 advantage.

The Spartans got on the scoreboard at 5:41 into the second period with the sixth goal of the season by Rihards Marenis. Linemates Michael Mikulin and Trevor Hoth assisted on the play.

Starting the third period and still a one goal game, St. Thomas pushed the lead back to two at 2:10 of the period. The games final goal was tallied on the power-play by the Tommies at 12:24.

With the 4-1 loss, AU is now 7-14-1 overall and 1-13-1 in NCAA contests. Next action for the Spartan hockey team comes on Friday, January 23 when they play at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Menomonie, Wisconsin.