DE PERE, Wis. – The Trine University men's hockey team bowed out of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) Harris Cup Playoffs with a 5-1 loss against St. Norbert College.
The two teams entered the weekend as the second and third seeds in the playoffs, but also as nationally-ranked opponents. The two-seeded Green Knights were fifth and sixth in the national polls while the Thunder were tabbed 10th and 11th in those same rankings.
The home team struck first tonight, scoring twice in the first ten minutes of the game and taking a 2-0 lead. The first goal chased Kyle Kozma from the net and the second went against Peyton Grainer who entered in relief.
Trine responded by taking advantage of their first power play of the game. Brody Simko scored the goal in the 17th minute of the game, with Drew Jeffers adding the assist.
The 2-1 score lasted not only into the first intermission but all the way until the later part of the third period. St. Norbert scored in the 14th minute of the final stanza, forcing desperate measures by Trine. With the season on the line the team pulled their goalie early, and kept him on the bench even after surrendering two empty-net goals.
The 5-1 score eventually went final. Grainer finished the game with 28 saves, while Kozma had another two.
Trine finishes the season with an 18-8-2 record. That total is tied for the fourth most in a season for the program. It also makes five straight years that the team has reached 18 wins.
