Box Score ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's hockey team scored five goals in the third period to pull away with an 8-4 victory against visiting Aurora University. The win secures a series victory with the Thunder owning four of the six available points toward the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) standings.
Trine utilized a truly balanced offensive attack in the contest with seven different skaters recording goals with 15 recording at least a point. Freshman Jack Cooper led the way as the lone member of the team to record three points (1G, 2A). Michael DiPietra led the team with two goals in the contest.
The Spartans struck first on the night, scoring in the 13th minute of the opening period. The Thunder responded just over two minutes later after receiving a power play opportunity. Thad Marcola scored the goal with Jackson Clark and Aleksa Babic adding assists.
After the two goals of the first, the teams traded goals again in the second heading into the final intermission still tied at 3-3. DiPietra scored the first of the Trine goals in the third minute of the stanza, with Kyle Watson and Cooper adding assists. The other goal came in the 16th minute when Cooper found the back of the net after assists from Watson and Beau Binnie.
The Thunder offense found that business was booming in the final period, as they scored five goals, including three unanswered to start. Babic was joined by Logan Furstenau and Brendan Finn to record their first goals of the night during the opening stretch. DiPietra and Bobby Price finished off the scoring in the final five minutes to make the score final at 8-4.
In net, Kyle Kozma benefited from the offensive explosion, earning his 13th win of the season despite allowing four goals. He finished the game with 23 saves.
The Thunder improve to 15-4-0 overall and 10-2-0 in NCHA play. They earn four points toward the NCHA standings for a total of 29 so far, good enough to hold second by themselves in the league table. The team will travel to face Concordia University Wisconsin in their next competition. The opening game of the weekend series is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT on Friday, January 26.
