APPLETON, Wis. – The Trine University men's hockey team finished the sweep of their hosts from Lawrence University on the back of a 5-0 shutout. Brody Simko paced the team with four assists in the contest.
Neither team scored during the first period, but the Thunder won the shots battle with 11 on goal to just six by the Vikings.
Trine broke up the tie in the second, scoring a pair to take the 2-0 lead into the second intermission. The first came while on a power play and working in the offensive zone. As the team passed the puck through the puck, Alexander Babich carried the puck toward the near corner before passing it back to the front of the net. Simko tipped the puck along with Jack Cooper waiting on the opposite of the goal to score the easy goal.
In the 13th minute Simko and Max Marquette wrestled the puck away from the Lawrence players in the neutral zone. Marquette ended up with possession and skated into the near faceoff circle before firing a low shot to the opposite side of the net for the goal.
 The team quickly added to their lead in the third. In just the third minute the team came up with a takeaway on the defensive end and made the transition to offense. Nick White carried the puck into the offensive zone before passing it further ahead to Simko who came back to the point with the puck. He handed it off to Lem Vardy who passed it toward the net where White was waiting to convert the goal.
White scored a second two minutes later. This time Babich moved the puck through the neutral zone before passing it to Josh Wright who went to the far faceoff circle. He then passed it bac toward the slot where White chipped the puck off a defender and toward the net. White followed up by crashing on the goalie and pushing the puck home.
The final goal came in the 11th minute. Trayce Johnson caused a turnover in the defensive zone, passing the puck toward Simko who had space to move into the neutral zone, with White tipping it along the way. Simko passed the puck to Babich who was behind the Vikings and scored on the breakaway.
Kyle Kozma guaranteed the victory with 20 saves in net, earning the win and the shutout.
The Thunder improve to 10-5-2 overall and 5-2-2 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) play. They will travel to face Lake Forest College next weekend in another NCHA back-to-back. Game one is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT on Friday, January 23.
