Byron Center, Mich. — After both teams had already retreated to the locker room after warm-ups on Friday night (Oct. 6), a Rochester skater casually snuck back onto ice inside the Southside Ice Arena. The Aquinas men's hockey team wasn't going to let that go unnoticed.

Dylan Rumpke marched from the AQ locker room back over to the rink and, with authority, marked the Saints' territory again by being the last skater on the ice following warm-ups. Some traditions never die.

That wasn't the only tradition the Saints (3-4 overall) upheld on Friday night. Aquinas improved to 17-0 all-time against Rochester (0-3, 0-1 WHAC) with a 5-2 home victory in the conference opener. The contest, however, wasn't as lopsided as the final score might suggest.

Two first-period goals from both sides held up well into the third period.

Rochester scored first on a wraparound goal by Tirned Kabambamwamba just 52 seconds into the game. Rumpke responded five minutes later with Nicola Vogel and Nick Dashner getting the assists. 

The Warriors once again took the lead at 2-1 with 7:21 left in the opening period on goal by Jordan Winrod, assisted by Kabambamwamba. AQ found the equalizer with 27 seconds left in the frame on a tally by Mitchell Hoon with Christian Look and Brandon Rozema getting the helpers.

Nothing could separate the teams in the second period, setting up what looked to be an intense final 20 minutes.

The thought of overtime was put to bed with 9:55 remaining as Xavier Erickson scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal. Look and Brendan McCatty were credited with the assists. Hoon then popped up again with an impressive individual effort to score an unassisted and shorthanded with 6:22 left.

The Warriors picked up a five-minute major penalty with 5:20 to play to ultimately seal their fate. AQ managed to add an insurance power-play goal with 4:18 to go off the stick of Look with Rozema and Hoon each adding another point with assists. That capped the final score at 5-2 with the Saints scoring three unanswered goals in the third period.

Looking at the shots on target, AQ's third-period outburst was to be expected. The Saints outshot the Warriors in all three periods (26-11 in the first, 20-7 in the second and 21-11 in the third) to finish with 38 more shots on target (67-29 in total).

AQ goaltender Randon Striplin made 27 saves for his first win of the season.

Look picked up three points on Friday to become AQ's top point getter so far this season with nine points.

Next up, Aquinas now travels to Fraser, Mich., for a rematch Saturday (Oct. 7) against the Rochester Warriors on their home ice at the Big Boy Arena. Puck drop at 8 p.m.