Byron Center, Mich. – The Aquinas men's hockey squad returned to its home ice tonight (Feb. 11) to take on the Concordia Cardinals. Aquinas suffered a late game-winning goal defeat to the hands of the Cardinals last night and were looking to get back in the win column tonight. That would not be the case as absolute heartbreak struck the Saints again. CUAA won last night's game with 57 seconds left on the clock. Tonight, there was less than half of a second left when the Cardinals scored the winner, besting the Saints 2-1.

Aquinas is now 13-18 on the season with an 8-13 conference record.

The first period was rather quiet with mostly clean hockey from both sides. There were only eight total shots on target until a penalty from Christian Look gave the visiting Concordia side its first power play of the game. CUAA immediately capitalized just twenty seconds into its power play to break open the scoring with 8:55 left on the clock.

Two minutes later, Concordia received another power play opportunity but failed to capitalize this time. The clock wound down to zero with both sides only putting nine shots on net apiece. The teams entered the locker rooms for the first time with Concordia holding a 1-0 advantage.

The pace picked up quite a bit to start the second period with Aquinas receiving its first power play opportunity of the game just 38 seconds into the period. However, Concordia managed to kill off the penalty despite a couple of good looks from the Saints.

Six minutes into the period, Alex Johnson was sent to the box for high-sticking, giving CUAA its third power play of the contest. Despite the power play, AQ had the best chance during those two minutes after Brandon Rozema collected a loose puck and ripped a one-on-one chance at the net. Concordia's netminder, Zachary Janis, came up with a big save to keep the game level.

The game slowed down quite a bit following the Cardinal's power play as both keepers proved tough to beat in the net. With the clock winding down, both teams had a one-on-one chance, but both goalies came up with huge saves to keep the game at 1-0. Offsetting penalties ended the second period with four-on-four hockey left to come to start the third period.

The Saints had a slight upper hand in shots over the course of the second, leading 12-10.  

An extremely clean third period of hockey ensued with neither side wanting to give up any power-play chances after both penalties ended that started the period. Both teams had several one-on-one chances, but neither goalie was winning to give up any ground. However, with 5:19 left on the clock, A. Johnson finally got the puck past Jaris, who was playing an incredible game.

Johnson scored a rebound goal off of Rozema's shot to level the game. The goal was Johnson's 12th of the year and Rozema's 13th assist of the season.

Both teams had a couple more good scoring chances, but neither side managed to break the stalemate. With the game appearing to head to overtime, Concordia shot the puck from the blue line and Garrett Benoit, who was screening on the play, deflected the puck into the back of the net with less than half a second on the clock. CUAA's literal buzzer-beater gave the Cardinals a 2-1 victory over Aquinas.

In total, the Saints outshot the Cardinals 36-31. Michael Allman received the nod in net tonight and saved 29 of the 31 shots on net for a .935 save percentage.

Matt Denhartigh quietly had a very good game defensively, stopping several two-on-one chances from Concordia.

The Saints have a busy week this upcoming week with three games scheduled against Cleary. Aquinas is set to play at home on Wednesday (Feb. 15) and Friday (Feb. 17). AQ will then take to the road on Saturday (Feb. 18) to play its final game of the regular season.