BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Trine University men's hockey team pulled away for a convincing 6-1 victory over their hosts from Buffalo State University, finishing off the weekend sweep and ending the first half of the season with 12 wins.
The Bengals scored first for the second straight night, finding the back of the net in the eighth minute of play. This time the Thunder responded by taking the lead before the end of the stanza.
They scored their first goal in the 13th minute of the period. Sean Henry caused a turnover in the defensive end of the ice, quickly passing it up to the neutral zone for Tim Organ. The senior bounced the puck off the boards and into the offensive zone, finding Tyler Blanchard in the near faceoff circle. Blanchard skated forward to the net and snuck the puck by the near side of the goalie.
Just over a minute later the team took the lead. Tyler Fox snagged the puck in the defensive zone, skating hard toward the other end, but passing it to the center of the ice for Drew Welsch who carried it to the near faceoff circle. From there he made either a weak shot or a soft pass directly toward the goal with Fox making a diving effort to force the puck toward the goalie. Whether because of the soft touch or the extra action in his face, the opposition let the puck slip out of his grasp and back to the slot, giving Henry and easy shot for the goal.
The Thunder added two more to their lead in the second period. The first goal was a beautiful example of the power-play. The team moved the puck through the point with Josh Wright passing it along the blueline to Henry who in turned dished it forward to the near circle. Michael DiPietra served up a beautiful pass through the slot to the far circle giving Sam Antenucci the wide-open goal.
At the halfway point of the period the team ran their offense to open another easy goal. DiPietra moved behind the net and then passed it up to the blueline on the near side. Organ held the puck for but a second, forwarding it to the middle where Henry buried the slapshot in the back of the net.
Welsch and Alexander Babich each scored in the third period to build the final 6-1 victory. Lem Vardy, Kyle DeMarco and Blanchard each added assists.
Henry finished his monster game with four points, including two goals and two assists. In net, Cristian Wong-Ramos played the entire game and made 18 saves on the way to the victory.
The Thunder finish the day, and the first half of the season, with a 12-1-1 overall record. During the intermission Trine will head to France for a quartet of exhibition contests. They will return to the states for their non-conference game against Adrian College on Friday, January 10. That game, hosted by the seventh-ranked Bulldogs, is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
