Byron Center, Mich. — Against the run of play, senior Natalie Vaitas send the Saints' bench into a surprising frenzy. The Aquinas women's hockey team had swiped an early 1-0 lead out of nothing and had caught the No. 5-ranked Indiana Tech Warriors completely off guard. 

The opening tally 3:08 into the contest came on AQ's first shot on goal. The Saints only registered seven more shots the rest of the game, as the Warriors locked in and scored six unanswered goals to claim a 6-1 road win Saturday night (Jan. 28) at the Southside Ice Arena.

Indiana Tech picked up its ACHA Division I leading 22nd win of the season, improving to 22-4 overall, while the Saints suffered their fifth straight loss and are now 7-10 overall.

Alyssa Exline assisted Vaitas on the opening goal of the game. She is now tied for the team lead in assists with eight, joining Darbi Poole and Lauryn Wood. For Vaitas, it was her fourth goal of the season and 23rd career goal at Aquinas.

AQ's lead lasted for two minutes and 53 seconds before ITU's Megan Yakiwchuk scored her first of three goals in the contest on a power play. Yakiwchuk netted one more a little under four minutes before the first intermission and buried the hat-trick goal halfway through the second period.

Lauren Younker, Allison Greene and Michelle Borland also scored for the Warriors.Yonker and Borland picked up assists too for a pair of two-point showings.

The Warriors outshot the Saints 62-9. AQ goaltender Kadynce Romijn made 45 saves on 50 shots in the first two periods before she was replaced by Ashley Suske, who had a quieter third period by comparison with 11 saves on 12 shots.

Aquinas returns to the ice next weekend with a pair of road games at No. 8-ranked Miami (Ohio) on Friday (Feb. 3) and Saturday (Feb. 4).