A battle of a pair of top-10 nationally ranked teams and two of the better squads in the WHAC could not be settled in regulation on Wednesday night (Apr. 12) in Southfield. #9 Lawrence Tech used a late surge to overcome an early lead by #8 Aquinas and the Blue Devils netted the game-winner in overtime for the 11-10 victory.
 
It was the sixth ranked team Aquinas has faced so far in 2023; the Saints' remaining three contests in the regular season are against three conference foes (#7 Siena Heights, (RV) Madonna, and #5 Indiana Tech) in the national rankings. Wednesday's result drops AQ to 6-5 on the season and 3-2 in league play. Lawrence Tech improves to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the WHAC.
 
Aquinas raced out to a terrific start, leading 5-1 in the opening 10 minutes. Senior Jon Jardis scored a pair of goals and assisted on the other three tallies – two from Zachary Sweet, the other from Dean Cooper – for the early AQ advantage. Each team scored just once in the second quarter and it was a 6-3 Saints lead at halftime.
 
A big third quarter for Lawrence Tech saw the Blue Devils notch four of the five goals, as LTU's Damian Hudson found the back of the net three times – including twice in the last minute – to tie the game at 7-all. 
 
The Saints regained control with consecutive goals from Sweet and Mitch Haggart to start the fourth quarter. Lawrence Tech countered with back-to-back tallies in a 30-second span to knot things up at 9-9. Jardis responded 19 seconds later with an unassisted goal to put Aquinas back on top 10-9 with 3:28 remaining.
 
More than a minute later, Hudson scored again for LTU to tie the game for the third and final time. The teams would go to overtime tied at 10. In the extra frame, the Saints earned possession first but turned the ball over to the Blue Devils. After a timeout by the home team, Lawrence Tech netted the game-winner, as Hudson scored his sixth goal of the contest 71 seconds into overtime. 
 
LTU outshot the Saints 44-32 overall, including a 38-17 advantage over the final three quarters and overtime. AQ committed 19 turnovers and won 13 of 24 faceoffs. Lawrence Tech led in ground balls (46-40) and turned the ball over just 12 times. Clayton Boerigter notched 15 saves and eight ground balls in the loss.
 
Jardis finished with four goals and three assists, along with picking up three ground balls. Sweet was AQ's other multi-goal scorer, as he found the back of the net three times in four shots. Haggart added a pair of assists and posted five shots on goal. 
 
Reed Chastain (five ground balls, 6-of-12 on faceoffs) and Noah Szarejko (four ground balls, 7-of-11 on faceoffs) posted solid statlines. Kevin LaHaie, Cam Gunn, and Nico Kittredge all collected three ground balls apiece.
 
Aquinas stays on the road for its final road game of the regular season. This Saturday (Apr. 15), the Saints travel to Adrian to face #7 Siena Heights in a 7:00 p.m. start.