Byron Center, Mich. – The AQ men's hockey team returned to Southside Ice Arena tonight (Feb. 4) to take on the No. 16-ranked Lawrence Tech Blue Devils. LTU took home a 5-2 victory last night (Feb. 3), giving AQ a little extra motivation to win to even the series. Unfortunately, that would not be the case as a huge first period powered the Blue Devils past Aquinas by a score of 6-2.

Aquinas drops to 13-16 on the season with an 8-11 WHAC record.

The penalty bug hit the Blue Devils hard in the first period, but that did not deter LTU from scoring. Thimo Ey found the back of the net twice during two separate Saints power plays to give LTU a quick 2-0 lead just seven minutes into the game.

Just a few minutes later, Lawrence Tech was given a power play of its own and immediately skipped the puck past Max Johnston's right blocker. The Saints had a couple of good scoring chances, but the LTU netminder proved a tough obstacle in the first period. The teams entered the locker room for the first time with a 3-0 LTU lead. The Blue Devils outshot the Saints 15-9 throughout the period.

The Saints came out swinging to start the second period of play, putting several shots on the target until one finally snuck past the LTU goalie. Alex Johnson scored his tenth goal of the season with 18:53 left on the clock in the second. Mitchell Hoon was credited with his tenth assist of the year and Brandon Rozema received his 12th.

The game settled down a bit, but LTU found itself in the right place at the right time with 12:20 left on the clock. During an Aquinas power play, an error on the defensive third of the ice gave the Blue Devils an open net shot to increase their lead to three.

Following the LTU goal, neither side managed to generate a lot of offense with both teams traveling up and down the ice. Aquinas finally broke the stalemate after Rozema scored his 16th goal of the season off a rebound goal. Hoon was credited with the first assist again while Kirwin Johnson got on the scoresheet with the second assist on the play.

Aquinas nearly scored again just seconds later, ripping a puck off the post. With the clock winding down, both teams had several good chances, but neither team managed to get past the opposing goalie. The second period ended with LTU holding a 4-2 advantage. AQ held a slim advantage in shots on the net during the second period, leading 13-9.

Aquinas continued to create scoring chances into the third period, but Spencer Krul of the Blue Devils remained strong in the net. Aquinas played a clean period of hockey until A. Johnson was called for cross-checking with 5:50 left to play in the period. An advantageous LTU side capitalized on the power play, extending its lead to three with four minutes left to play.

The Lawrence Tech advantage increased to six after another late power-play goal managed to get past Johnston. 58 seconds later, the game ended 6-2 in favor of the visiting side.

In total, LTU outshot Aquinas 38-32. Johnson ended the game with a .842 save percentage and his record moved to 4-4 on the year.

Aquinas is back in action next weekend (Feb. 10-11) for a two-game series against the Concordia Cardinals. The first game on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 PM at the Arctic Edge in Canton, Michigan.