Tom Vannelli is no mechanic, but he appreciates a good auto part reference. 

“We need guys with motors,” the St. Thomas Academy bench boss said after his Cadets held on for a 5-3 win over Cloquet-Esko-Carlton on Saturday afternoon at Bloomington Ice Garden.

Vannelli got his wish early on Saturday.  

The St. Thomas Academy motors purred throughout the first period, as the Cadets rebounded after doing down 1-0 with a pair of goals from Will Schimek and Rob Christy. Schimek’s goal was the first of the senior defenseman’s varsity career. 

“Including yesterday(’s), we’ve got more first-goal pucks than regular pucks,” Vannelli said with a chuckle, referring to the tradition of awarding the scored-puck to a first-time scorer. 

The Cadets had four of those types of games in Saturday’s win, thanks to a handful of players stepping into high-profile roles due to the absence of forwards Brendan McFadden and Luke Herzog. McFadden and Herzog are members of the St. Thomas Academy football team, which is competing for the Prep Bowl title against Owatonna on Saturday night. 

“There are ten guys that are (absent),” Vannelli said. “Not necessarily varsity guys, but the JV is playing with two lines. “We’re gonna have to figure it out next year if the football program looks like it’s going to be a contender.”

In McFadden and Herzog’s absence, Schimek, Riley O’Brien, and Bjorn Kilen all scored their first varsity goals, a promising sign for Vannelli that his team has quality depth. 

“(We found) some guys that got to play that normally probably wouldn’t have this early in the season,” Vannelli said. “It was good. It was really a good experience for us.”

St. Thomas Academy is currently ranked No. 5 in the latest Class 2A state coaches’ poll. 

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton (0-2) got its first goal from sophomore forward Christian Galatz and pulled within one score of the Cadets after Mason Langenbrunner recorded his first two goals of the season. Galatz’s goal was also his first of his high school career.  

Senior goaltender Muzzy Donohue finished the game with 25 saves, prompting another compliment from his coach. 

“We found out this weekend that we’ve got a darn good goalie, so we can go (forward) with that,” Vannelli said.

After going 1-1 in The Opener in Bloomington, the Cadets will face Section 3-2A rival Eastview on Nov. 29.