ADRIAN, Mich. – The Trine University men's hockey team secured their first sweep against rival Adrian College with a shootout victory on the final day of the regular season.
The Thunder scored the first two goals of the battle between the nationally-ranked teams. Senior Tyler Blanchard netted the lone goal of the first period in the 18th minute to give the team a 1-0 lead for the first intermission. He was assisted by Jack Cooper and Alexander Babich.
The team doubled their lead early in the second, less than a minute after the opening faceoff. This time Sam Antenucci found the back of the net with Cooper and Michael DiPietra adding the assists.
The 12th ranked Bulldogs responded with a pair of goals separated by just under three minutes of game time later in the same period. The equalizer came in the 15th minute of the stanza.
Neither team found the back of the net in the third period. Freshman Ronnie Petrucci played spectacularly in net to backstop the defensive effort for the Thunder. He finished the game with 16 saves on the scoresheet and eight more crucial plays during the shootout.
Still tied after a five minute 3-on-3 overtime period, the teams headed to a best of three shootout. Despite an absolutely beautiful move in the opening round by Drew Jeffers, neither team scored through the first three chances and the game came down to sudden death.
It took until the sixth go for either team to find the back of the net. Brendan Finn struck first faking to the far side before backhanding the puck home on the near side of the net. With the game on the line the home side snuck the puck home through Petrucci's five-hole, the lone mar on the goalie's shootout performance. It took three more rounds before Kyle DeMarco played hero, popping the water bottle off the top of the goal with his shot from the high slot. Petrucci made a final save, and the Thunder took the third point to secure the weekend sweep.
Trine finishes the regular season 18-5-2 overall tying last season's record for most wins in program history. They finish their Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) slate with a 12-4-2 record which is the second most in program history. The team finishes third in the NCHA standings and will host Marian (Wis.) University for the opening round of the upcoming NCHA Harris Cup Playoffs. The first game of the best-of-two series is scheduled for Friday, February 21 at 7 p.m.
