Byron Center, Mich. — The Saints needed two periods to knock the holiday rust off before they could dust off Rochester. The Aquinas men's hockey team rolled to a 7-2 victory Friday night (Jan. 6) at the Southside Ice Arena with five unanswered goals coming in the third period.

The Saints (10-10, 5-7 WHAC) are back at the .500 mark with the home win, while preventing the Warriors (1-14, 0-13 WHAC) from picking up their first conference triumph this season.

Captain Brandon Rozema got the Saints on the board first 6:48 into the contest. His 11th goal of the season was assisted by Dylan Rumpke, who was just getting started on what turned out to be a big five-point night for the sophomore forward.

Rochester answered back immediately, 39 seconds later, on a goal by Maxx Savol to level the score. Savol then scored halfway through the second period to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead.

Rumpke rescued the Saints with his first of four goals in the contest coming with less than three minutes left before the second intermission. The 2-2 equalizer was scored unassisted and short-handed.

Tempers flared in a penalty-filled third period after three players had already received a game misconduct in the first 40 minutes. Three more players received disqualifications following an after-the-whistle fight with eight minutes remaining.

Cooler heads prevailed for the Saints as they poured in five third-period goals to put the game out of reach. Rumpke scored three more goals, two on the power play, plus Mitchell Hoon and Danny Barry scored as well. Barry's goal caught everyone's attention as AQ flawlessly worked the puck up the ice and scored a brilliant team goal with Hoon and Christian Look picking up the assists.

Look assisted on AQ's last three goals. Mason Stewart and Rozema also collected helpers in the third period.

Saints freshman goalie Randon Striplin made a handful of key saves, especially at the start of the game and early into the second period to keep the Warriors at-bay. Striplin ended up making 31 saves to pick up the win. Anthony Carlier stopped 48 shots in the defeat.

Aquinas outshot Rochester 55-33 with a 24-8 shots on goal advantage in the third period.

AQ now heads to Rochester to face the Warriors on Saturday night (Jan. 7) in the home-and-away series. Puck drop from the Big Boy Arena is set for 7:30 p.m.