The men's hockey team won a thrilling 3-2 overtime game tonight at Southside Ice Arena, knocking off #6 ranked Indiana Tech for a huge WHAC and ACHA victory. The win improves the Saints to 12-10 on the season and 5-7 in WHAC action.
The Saints came into the game looking to rebound from a tough 6-3 loss in Ft.Wayne on Friday night, and looking to score a big win to help them in both the WHAC standings and the ACHA D1 National rankings. The threat of an icestorm in Grand Rapids postponed the game originally scheduled for Saturday night, giving each team an extra day to rest and to think about the battle ahead.
The two teams came out firing in the first-period, playing a fast and physical brand of hockey. While neither team was able to break the seal on the scoreboard in the first 20 minutes, both teams played with intensity and the period was filled with non-stop end to end action. Strong goalie play was the only thing keeping the game scoreless with the two teams going back and forth and exhausting fans in the building with their play.
The Saints gained the advantage finally in the second period.
Mike Curran opened the scoring on the day, finally beating Indiana Tech goaltender Ryan O'Toole.
Nick Stockert had the assist on the play. The Saints would double the lead with just over 60 seconds left in the period when
Mason Stewart got just enough on a shot to sneak it past O'Toole after following up a strong rush into the zone by
Kyle Truax, who assisted on the play.
Aquinas came out strong again in the third, holding back an Indiana Tech squad that was hungry to sweep the season series over the #15 ranked Saints. The Warriors came out aggressively in the opening moments of the third, peppering Aquinas goaltender
Nick Ottenbacher, who came up huge to keep the Saints in the lead. However, just as it looked like the Saints would not only pull out the victory but do so in shutout fashion, the Warriors responded. Indiana Tech scored with just under five minutes remaining to cut the lead in half, and then again two and a half minutes later to tie things up. A stunned Saints squad regrouped and held off another later charge by the Warriors and took the game into overtime.
The Saints took control of the 3v3 overtime period early, creating a pair of chances that would just barely be turned away by O'Toole. After holding off a charge by the Warriors, the Saints regained control of the puck and put it on the stick of
Kyle Truax. The junior forward from Las Vegas danced through the zone, holding possession while trying to find an opening for the Saints. Truax found daylight to get a shot off, which ended up on the stick of
Mason Stewart, who proceeded to bury the puck in the back of the net for a dramatic overtime winner.
Stewart led the way for the Saints with a pair of goals, while Truax added two assists.
Nick Ottenbacher was strong in net for the Saints, holding the potent Warrior offense scoreless with the help of his defense for the first 55 minutes of the game. He finished the day with 28 saves.
The Saints will be back in action next weekend with a pair of games against Davenport University. The two teams split their previous games, with each team winning by a score of 5-2 on their home ice back in October.
