ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's hockey team secured the first half of the weekend doubleheader with a 4-1 victory over visiting Buffalo State University.
The Thunder opened the scoring in exciting fashion, beating the buzzer in the first period with tenths of a second remaining. With just under five seconds remaining in the period, Sam Antenucci won a faceoff back to the point where Luke deVries quickly forwarded it up the boards to the far corner. Max Marquette made another quick pass through the slot to the near faceoff circle where Drew Jeffers blasted the shot that just beat the end of the period.
Trine added to their lead in the eighth minute of the second period. Working in the forward zone, Nick White passed the puck toward the crease where Douglas Andersson tipped it toward the boards. The rebound ended up in the near circle where deVries collected and fired a shot into the top of the net.
The Bengals finally responded in the 14th minute of the third period, cutting the deficit back to one at 2-1.
While the Thunder waited for the opposition's goalie to leave the ice, Blake Tierney ended up with the puck in the defensive zone. He passed the puck just outside of the blueline where Brody Simko collected it and moved down the ice. When the freshman reached the far faceoff circle he passed it back to the near side of the crease where Antenucci was waiting to tip it home.
Buffalo State did pull their goalie after winning the next faceoff, but before he reached the bench, deVries came up with a turnover in the defensive end of the ice. He passed it along the near boards and White tipped it out of the zone. Michael DiPietra wrestled the puck through the neutral zone and ended up with a free shot on the empty net. His goal iced the game at 4-1.
Ronnie Petrucci played the game in net for the Thunder and finished with 20 saves and the victory.
The team improves to 6-3-2 overall after the win. They will look to finish the weekend sweep tomorrow, Saturday, December 13. Opening puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m.
