The #20 men's hockey team played their last home game of the regular tonight (Feb. 11) against the #23 Davenport University Panthers. Tonight was also senior night, as all of the seniors on the hockey team were honored. Aquinas poured it on early and jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. AQ successfully closed out the game with a final score of 6-1. AQ is now 17-8 on the season with an 11-6 WHAC record.
Aquinas blew up the scoreboard on senior night, racking up five goals in the period.
Nick Stockert, a senior, kicked off the party with the first goal of the night, scoring just three minutes and 46 seconds into the period. The goal was assisted by
Darren Johnson and fellow senior,
David Elford. Stockert wasn't done scoring yet as he found the back of the net again less than two minutes later. Senior
Mike Curran would make the lead three at 11:27 in the first period with a powerplay goal. Curran's 10th goal of the season was assisted by fellow seniors
Russell Shengulette and
Mason Stewart. Just a minute and 54 seconds later, Curran would score another powerplay goal. Stockert was in on the assist, giving him three goal contributions in just over ten minutes.
With 7:37 remaining on the clock, Stockert scored yet again, capping off his hat trick in just the first period. Elford picked up another assist, giving him 10 on the season. Davenport would pull one goal back at 5:18 in the period, narrowing the lead to 5-1. The teams decided that six goals were enough for just the third period and entered the locker rooms with that 5-1 score. AQ was outshot by Davenport 16-12 in the period.
Unlike the first period, the second period was largely quiet. Part of the reason could be a result of the carousel of penalties that the Saints had in the period. AQ managed to kill off three consecutive penalties to end the second period. Despite being a man down for a good portion of the period, Aquinas was only outshot 14-12. No goals were scored in the second period with the score still 5-1.
The third period got a bit chippy with Aquinas out in front by four goals. Elford made it five as he scored with 9:28 left on the clock. The goal was assisted by Shengulette and Curran. Both teams had several penalties after the goal and neither side managed to produce many scoring chances as a result. AQ would be outshot 10-6 in the final period, but the game would end 6-1 in favor of Aquinas.
Michael Allman got the start in net and had a fantastic night, saving 34 of 35 shots on net. Allman is now 8-5 on the season.
The Saints close out the regular season tomorrow night (Feb. 12) at Patterson Ice Arena. The final game of the season is set for 9:00 PM against the Davenport Panthers.
