The Aquinas men's hockey team faced Concordia for the third straight game on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 9) and ultimately fell in overtime at Southside Ice Arena. The Saints were able to even the score with 26 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, but the Cardinals got their only shot of the extra period to hit the back of the net and take the 5-4 win.

Aquinas now has an 11-5 overall record this season and a 9-4 WHAC record, which is good for third in the standings behind Indiana Tech and Lawrence Tech. Concordia improves to 6-9 on the season and 3-8 in the conference.

The first period was back and forth with both times the Cardinals scored, the Saints had an answer. CUAA scored the first goal a minute into the game with Brandon Troyer scoring with the assists going to Quinn Bieniek and Derek Hebner. AQ answered 46 seconds later after Alex Klekotka lit the lamp with help from his linemates Mike Curran and David Elford. The Cardinals regained the lead at the 5:32 mark as Tyler Groth found the back of the net off the passes from Tristan Waechter and Hunter Kepple. Klekotka scored his second goal of the period with just over two minutes remaining as Curran and Elford collected the assists again. AQ outshot CUAA 18-11 in the first period as the teams went to the locker room tied 2-2.

The Saints took their first lead of the game in the second stanza as Darren Johnson beat the netminder on a breakaway at the 13:44 mark with the lone assist going to Russell Shengulette. The Cardinals responded with two more goals in the middle period to take a 4-3 lead heading into the second intermission. Tyler Bienek evened the score with nine minutes remaining in the period with Kyle Hebner collecting the assist and then Abel Christians scored the go-ahead goal on the power-play four minutes later, converting on a 4-on-2 opportunity with Kepple and Carson Eidger.

The final period of regulation nearly went scoreless before the Saints were able to even the score with 26 seconds remaining. With an extra skater on the ice from pulling the goaltender, Brandon Rozema won a battle in a scrum in front of the net to score the game-tying goal. Nick Stockert was credited with the lone assist as the game went into a three-on-three overtime period. After some extra curricular activities at the end of regulation that saw both a Saint and a Cardinal receive 10-minute misconduct penalties, Concordia scored on its only shot of the extra period. Groth scored his second goal of the game for the game winner at the 3:12 mark as Waechter and Kepple collected another assist.

Michael Allman (4-3) got the start in between the pipes and made 20 saves, while allowing five goals. Elijah Gibbons had a busy day for Concordia by making 53 saves and allowing four goals in the win.

The Saints outshot the Cardinals by a wide 57-25 margin throughout the 62:48 minutes of play. CUAA converted on one of three power-play opportunities, while AQ was not able to take advantage on any of the four power-play chances.

With the Cleary series being postponed this weekend, Aquinas was able to pick up a game against the Western Michigan club hockey team on Saturday (Dec. 11), with the puck dropping at 2:30 PM.