LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Trine University men's hockey team scored a late goal to force overtime where they scored in the first minute to secure a pair of points toward the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) standings. They defeated their hosts from Lake Forest College 5-4.
Trine struck first in the contest, in just the first minute of play. As the Foresters tried to clear the puck from their zone, Luke deVries tapped it down for Nick White. White carried it toward the goal, looking to all of the rink like he would fire a close-range shot. He instead made a quick pass back to the high slot where deVries slapped a shot into the net.
The Thunder scored again five minutes later, this time taking advantage of a power play opportunity. The play started with an forward zone faceoff, won by Alexander Babich. He pushed it straight back to the point where White forwarded it quickly to the other end of the blueline. Sam Antenucci took a shot from the top of the near faceoff circle that was mishit but still ended up in front of the net. The puck bounced off of a defender back toward the crease where Brody Simko was waiting to push it home.
The next two goals went to the home team, with once coming four minutes later and the other coming in the opening minutes of the second period, making the score 2-2.
Trine took another lead in the ninth minute of the period, again utilizing the power play. Running their offense, deVries handed the puck off to Logan Furstenau at the top of the far circle where he fired a shot toward the net. Douglas Andersson tipped the puck home from just outside the crease.
Again the Foresters scored a pair of goals in response, this time taking their first lead of the contest in the 14th minute of the period. That score held almost through the end of regulation.
Once again on the power play, Antenucci passed the puck along the blueline to White who moved forward and toward the near faceoff circle before firing a shot toward goal. It was deflected by a defender and ricocheted to the far side of the net. Jack Cooper was ready to take advantage firing a quick shot into the net.
The goal eventually forced overtime with neither team scoring in the final two minutes of regulation. Trine ended up with the puck with just less than a minute into the period in the defensive zone. Furstenau handed the puck off to Sean Henry who then fired a long pass up the near side of the ice. That pass found Michael DiPietra as he crossed the final blueline. He made a move around a final defender and scored the game winner.
The Thunder improve to 11-5-2 overall and 7-2-2 in NCHA play after the overtime victory. They will take on Lake Forest again tomorrow, Saturday, January 24 with opening puck drop scheduled for 4 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. ET.
