DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Trine University men's hockey team mustered a two-goal comeback in the third period, to finish with a 4-4 tie in their opening game against the University of Dubuque. The team went on to earn the extra point toward the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) standings by winning the shootout 2-1.
The Spartans struck first, with a goal in the ninth minute of the first period, but the lead lasted just five minutes. The Thunder faced an uphill battle after taking a penalty and a faceoff in their defensive zone. They won the faceoff back to
Josh Wright, who passed it behind the net to
Sam Antenucci. The junior skated the length of the ice going to the near side of the goalie, before passing it across his face to
Sean Henry who buried the attempt for the goal.
The second period went completely in favor of the home team with Dubuque scoring a pair of goals to build their lead to 3-1.
Trine started their comeback when they received a power play opportunity of their own in the sixth minute of the third. While working in the offensive zone,
Michael DiPietra fired a shot wide of the net that took a long bounce off the back boards.
Keiton Klein was able to collect the loose puck and score the goal.
Just less than two minutes later the team tied the contest at three, this time with
Jack Cooper scoring and
Aleksa Babic adding an assist. It was a short-lived draw, with the Spartans responding quickly with a breakaway goal that made the score 4-3.
It looked like the game would end in favor of Dubuque when the Thunder took a late penalty. The team still pulled their goalie in favor of the equalizing skater. They then ran a drawn-up play on the offensive faceoff and came up with the equalizer again. This time Antenucci scored the goal with
Bobby Price and
Logan Furstenau adding assists.
Neither team scored during the overtime period and the game headed to a shootout to decide who would take the extra point toward NCHA standings. Neither team scored in the first round of shots, but the home team took a lead in the second. Wright scored in the third, with
Kyle Kozma making the save on his end to force sudden death. Furstenau went five-hole in the fourth round and Kozma forced a shot wide on the other end to secure the point.
Trine finishes the day 4-0-1 overall and 2-0-1 in NCHA play. They will finish the weekend trip tomorrow, Saturday, November 16 with a second game against Dubuque. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.
