The Aquinas College men's hockey team moved on to the WHAC Tournament Championship game after an impressive 4-1 win over Indiana Tech last night. The win improves the Saints' record to 24-12 on the season.
The Saints entered the game needing a win to both advance in the WHAC Tournament and improve their at-large bid chances to the ACHA D1 Tournament. The Saints did both with the three-goal win over a Top-10 Indiana Tech team.
The two teams played a tough, scoreless first period and remained even at 0-0 until broke through with a goal just over two minutes into the second--period. After getting down 1-0, the Saints completely turned the game around, dominating the final 30 minutes of play. After being out-shot 12-6 in the first-period, the Saints blistered the Warriors 12-7 in the second, and the increased pressure on goal finally paid off when the Saints struck on the powerplay to tie things up 1-1.
Mike Curran connected on the man-advantage with assists to
Brandon Schwandt and
Nick Long.
The Saints and Warriors entered the third-period the same way the entered the second, even on the scoreboard, But that would not be the case for very long, as the Saints scored just 2:37 into the period on what would be the eventual game-winner.
Trent Kulczyk found the back of the net with help from Arthur Pruhitsky and
Kyle Truax to make it 2-1. The Saints would then roll the rest of the way, scoring twice more to blow the game open. Kulczyk scored again, this time on the powerplay, with
Mason Stewart and
Alex Klekotka assisting. Stewart then finished the Warriors off at 14:56 with Kulczyk and
Max Berry with the helpers.
Goaltending and special teams proved to be the difference on the night. Saints' goalie
Nick Ottenbacher made 27 saves on 28 shots to stymie the Warriors. Aquinas connected on 2-6 powerplay opportunities while shutting down the Warrior man-advantage, not allowing a goal in seven opportunities for Indiana Tech.
The Saints are currently riding an 11 game winning streak heading into todays 3:30 pm showdown with UM-Dearborn. The Wolverines are the last team to defeat the Saints, but also the team the Saints beat to begin their end of the season run.
