ANGOLA, Ind. – The special teams led the way to another victory for the Trine University men's hockey team, who defeated visiting Lawrence University 3-1 in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) opener.
The Thunder special teams went to work early, with a Vikings penalty in the third minute of play. Nick White recovered a rebound and netted his next shot for the 1-0 lead. Nick Zaharias and Brendan Finn added assists on the tally.
Overall, Trine dominated possession in the first period. They outshot the opposition 17-2 but only took the one goal lead into the first intermission.
The second period was even between the two teams, with Lawrence building a slight advantage in shots, 8-6. They cashed in on one of those shots in the tenth minute of play, tying the game at one apiece.
The draw held into the seventh minute of the final stanza, when another penalty set the Thunder up with a power play chance. This time Michael DiPietra won a faceoff to the side where he covered it along the boards. His pass found Finn behind the goal line where he quickly forwarded it toward the slot. Zaharias missed his shot but moved the puck along to White who scored from the far faceoff circle.
With just under two minutes remaining in the contest the Vikings pulled their goalie to look for the equalizer. An impressive individual effort by Brody Simko ended their hopes. The sophomore caused a turnover at the blueline and recovered the free puck in the neutral zone before flipping it home from the offensive blueline.
The 3-1 victory went final a few minutes later, giving Peyton Grainer his second win in net. Grainer finished the game with 16 saves.
The Thunder improve to 2-1-0 overall and secured a victory in their first NCHA game. The two teams will face off again tomorrow, Saturday, November 14. That game is set to start at 4:00 p.m.
