Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Aquinas Saints were back on the ice last night (Oct. 1) for the second of their two-game series against the Calvin Knights. In two sides engaged in a back-and-forth thriller. Calvin took the lead late in the third, but the Saints would equalize with just 36 seconds remaining on the clock. The stalemate went into overtime and, eventually, a shootout. Tyler Szturm would stop all three attempts from the Knights and Darren Johnson would win it in the bottom of the third.

The result moves Aquinas to 1-1 on the season and hands Calvin its first loss of the year.

Calvin jumped out to an early lead in the first period after an interference call gave the Knights a powerplay opportunity. The Saints would immediately score a goal of their own just a minute and 40 seconds later thanks to Alex Johnson's first collegiate goal. Danny Barry and Dylan Rumpke would be credited with the assists, their firsts of the season.

Calvin continued to pepper the net with shots, outshooting the Saints 20-11 throughout the period. However, Calvin could not get past Sztrum in net and the score still remained 1-1 as both sides entered the locker rooms for the first intermission.

The second period was much more of a defensive battle between the teams with Calvin outshooting Aquinas 13-9 throughout the period. Late in the period, AQ would claim its first lead of the game after Brandon Rozema assisted Gustov Ostman's first goal of the 2022-23 campaign with 7:16 remaining in the second. Similar to the Saints in the first period, Calvin would immediately equalize just a minute and 59 seconds later.

The Knights would get a powerplay with 3:03 left on the clock, but AQ would successfully kill the powerplay off and the two sides would, once again, enter the locker rooms with the game tied up.

Things would get a bit chippy between the two teams in the third with seven penalties awarded throughout the period. Unexpectedly, the Knights would score a shorthanded goal with 14:12 left in the third to take a 3-2 lead over Aquinas. However, Aquinas continued to put shots on target and eventually got the leveler with 9:07 remaining in the period. Rumpke scored his third goal of the season with the helper coming from Christian Look, his first of the year.

After some more back-and-forth drama that featured a powerplay for both sides, Calvin would be the ones to break the tie again, scoring with just 3:54 remaining in the third.

With the clock winding down to the final minute of the game, Aquinas pulled its keeper for an extra skater in an attempt to tie the game for the fourth time. With the first line on the ice and just 36 seconds remaining on the clock, Brandon Rozema would score the clutch equalizing goal to send the game into overtime. Mason Stewart and D. Johnson would be awarded with the assists.

Neither side managed to break the draw in overtime and the two sides headed to their respective benches to allow a shootout to determine the result of the game. Calvin would shoot first and get denied by Sztrum in three straight attempts. Rumpke and Ostman took the first two shots for Aquinas and also failed to score. However, in the bottom of the third, D. Johnson would manage to get the puck past the Calvin net minder and win the game for Aquinas to conclude an absolute thriller.

Calvin managed to slightly outshoot Aquinas throughout the game with a 46-42 advantage in that category. Szturm was great in net, saving 42 of the 46 shots on goal for a .920 save percentage.

Rozema and Rumpke each ended the game with a goal and an assist.

The Saints are back in action next weekend (Oct. 7-8) for a two-games series against the Rochester Warriors. Both games are set to start at 7:30 PM with the Friday game being on the road and the Saturday game at Southside.