ANGOLA, Ind. – In the second half of a weekend battle of nationally ranked teams, #10/10 Trine University and #4/5 St. Norbert College once again needed extra time to come to a decision. Today the game ended in a 3-3 tie with the Green Knights securing the bonus point in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) standings with a 2-1 shootout win.
Game two saw the Thunder score first, taking the 1-0 lead in the 11th minute of the first period. Just out of a penalty kill, Max Marquette had a breakaway shot turned to the side, but he caught the rebound behind the net and found Luke deVries at the point. The sophomore fired a shot toward net that tipped off of Douglas Andersson before being saved. The rebound went long to the near faceoff circle where Aleksa Babic was waiting to fire another shot at net. The puck slipped through the left side of the goalie and into the back of the net.
The Green Knights responded quickly. Their goal came less than a minute later to tie the game.
Trine answered back in the 16th minute. Alexander Babich started the run in the defensive zone, picking up a loose puck out of a scrum against the boards. He skated to the blueline before passing it to Sam Antenucci in the neutral zone. The senior weaved around allowing Brody Simko and Marquette to break forward to the other blueline. Simko ended up carrying the puck into the zone with a 2-on-1 opportunity. He took the shot instead of a pass and scored.
Neither team scored in the second, but the Thunder added to their lead in the sixth minute of the third period. The team won a defensive faceoff before getting the puck to Marquette who sprinted up the ice and behind the St. Norbert goal. He was able to sneak the puck by a defender to Simko who snapped a quick pass to the slot where Antenucci was waiting to score.
The Green Knights wrestled back the momentum quickly, scoring in the seventh and ninth minutes of the period to tie the game at three. The next six minutes of gametime went without stoppages, in a tense back-and-forth with both teams threatening a goal. The final four minutes of the game were more conservative, but still ended with neither team finding the back of the net, sending the game to overtime.
Aided by a Thunder penalty, St. Norbert commanded control of the puck in the extra period. The Trine defense played spectacularly during the stretch, even when down a man. They allowed just two shots on goal, with Kyle Kozma turning them both aside to defend the draw. Kozma finished the game with 35 saves.
Simko netted the first shootout attempt for the Thunder, but the Green Knights scored two and their goalie stopped the rest of the Trine attempts to take the extra point 2-1.
The Thunder finish the day 5-3-2 overall and 4-2-2 in NCHA play after the draw. They remain home for their next games, hosting Buffalo State University next weekend. The first game of the series is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, December 12.
