Byron Center, Mich. – The AQ Saints men's hockey team was back on home ice tonight (Jan. 14) to take on No. 20-ranked University of Michigan-Dearborn Wolverines. Aquinas took on UMD last night and picked up a huge 2-1 upset victory. The red-hot Saints proceeded to extend their four-game win streak to five tonight after sweeping UMD. Six different Saints scored tonight in AQ's 7-5 victory.

Aquinas is now 13-10 on the season with an 8-7 WHAC record. UM-Dearborn falls to 11-9-1 with a 10-5-1 conference record. The Saints earned their third win of the season against the Wolverines, totaling a 3-1 record against the team that knocked them out of the WHAC tournament last season.

AQ picked up right where it left off yesterday and scored a goal just 18 seconds into the first period. The Saints won the opening faceoff and immediately peppered the net with five shots. Mitchell Hoon eventually found the back of the net thanks to a rebound, netting him his fourth goal of the season. Brandon Rozema and Mason Stewart were credited with the assists.

Aquinas kept the pressure on for the next few minutes, but the game eventually settled down with both teams playing solid defense. UM-Dearborn picked up a power play opportunity a few minutes later, but the Saints easily killed it off.

The Wolverines earned another power play chance with 8:55 remaining on the clock. However, it would be Xavier Erickson who created a one-on-one chance off of UMD's line change. He capitalized on the scoring opportunity, ripping the pick over the right shoulder of the Wolverine's keeper to score his first goal as a Saint. Stewart picked up his second assist of the matchup and his 17th of the season. Brendan McCatty got the second assist on the goal, his sixth of the year.

Following AQ's second goal of the game, UMD began to turn up the pressure. Max Johnston had a couple of big saves on net as he tried to maintain the shutout. Offsetting roughing penalties on both teams resulted in four-on-four hockey with just three minutes to play in the period. UM-Dearborn finally broke through during the penalties to reduce the deficit to just one goal with 2:13 left to play.

The Wolverines generated a couple more chances, but the period ultimately ended with the score at 2-1. Aquinas held the advantage in shots on net for most of the first, but the UMD pressure late in the first gave them a 13-12 shots on target advantage to end the first.

A wild second period ensued with both sides trading goals. UMD tied the match at two with a goal at 12:41 left on the clock. Aquinas immediately responded as Rozema's hot streak continued. He tipped the puck into the net off of Gustav Ostman's shot to give AQ the lead back. Hoon was given the second assist on the play.

UM-Dearborn received its third power play of the game just a minute later, but AQ managed to kill off the chance once again. However, just 20 seconds after the power play concluded, the Wolverines tied the game again with 7:59 left on the clock.

Just 30 seconds later, Danny Barry found himself with the puck in front of the net and tucked it away to give the Saints the lead back. The goal was Barry's 12th of this campaign and was assisted by Darren Johnson on the play.

The back-and-forth continued once more as the Wolverines, once again, tied up the game with 3:10 remaining on the clock. However, Barry found a way to get the puck past the Wolverine's net minder with just over a minute left to play. His second goal of the game gave the Saints a 5-4 lead entering the second intermission. Dylan Rumpke improved his team-leading assist total to 22 on the goal.

Aquinas held a slight shots on net advantage in the second period, outshooting UMD 14-12.

The third period quickly became a defensive battle with neither side giving the other many opportunities. That changed when Aquinas was given its first power play of the game after UMD committed just its second penalty of the game with 13:55 left in regulation. D. Johnson capitalized on AQ's one and only power play of the game, giving the Saints a 6-4 advantage. McCatty and Ostman assisted the goal giving both players their second of the game.

UM-Dearborn responded just four minutes later with its fifth even-strength goal of the game, reducing the Aquinas lead to 6-5. The Wolverines continued to keep the puck inside the AQ blue line but were unable to generate many shots. With the Saints holding onto a one-goal lead, UMD used its timeout with 2:17 remaining in an attempt to level the score.

Aquinas continued to hold on when the Wolverines pulled their keeper with 1:09 left on the clock. Shortly after, Rumpke was able to get the puck out of the Aquinas third and slot the puck into the empty net, effectively ending any chance of a UM-Dearborn comeback. Aquinas closed out the final 40 seconds and won the matchup 7-5.

UMD managed to outshoot the Aquinas 37-34 on the night, but Johnston picked up his second win in as many nights with 32 saves. He ended the games with a .865 save percentage to improve his record this season to 5-4.

Aquinas returns to the ice next weekend to take on rival team #6 Indiana Tech. The first of the two-game series will be on Friday (Jan. 20) at Southside Ice Arena. The puck is set to drop at 8:00 PM.