Canton, Mich. — The Aquinas College men's hockey team made way to Canton, Michigan, for the Artic Edge to take on the Cardinals of Concordia in conference play on Friday (Nov. 22) in their action-packed weekend of play. The two teams entered a shooting frenzy quickly into the match and continued through the whole contest. With the final horn AQ stood on top with an 8-6 final.

Aquinas 8, Concordia 6

Concordia struck first in the conference bout just within four minutes. AQ's Gavin Rozema responded as he collected back-to-back goals, the first being asssted by Nick Dashner and Alex Johnson, and the second by Ben Cesario and Christian Look. The Saints were up 2-1 just over 11 minutes into the game and added another just before 15 minutes. Xavier Erickson made due on a powerplay with help from Zachary Burns and Matt Denhartigh.

With just 61 seconds left in the period, Concordia put a stop to their drought and tallied a goal bringing the contest to 3-2 in favor of AQ. 

The second period started with a bang as Justin Lagrow was quick off the start and added the teams fourth goal just 38 seconds into the period with a pass from Erickson. CUAA responded close to 12 minutes later, only for Arseniy Malyutin to made a statement of his own with an unassisted goal less than two minutes after. Aquinas kept their distance at two, now having the scoreboard read 5-3. The remainder of the period saw the shooting continue, but no score to be had. 

The Cardinals soared back into action in the third as they picked up three goals in a row, two of which being powerplays. CUAA now held the advantage for the first time since the opening goal at 6-5. Now facing the underside of the scoreboard the Saints refocus and regathered. With their last period effort the team went on their own three goal run. Lagrow from Dashner making it 6-6. Then Erickson doubled up as he scored the seventh goal with help from Denhartigh, and the eighth with a touch from Malyutin.

By the Numbers

• The Saints allowed two powerplays, while taking advantage of one for themselves
• Keeper Jean Berthaudin went 19/25 for a .76 rating, and also earned his first collegiate victory 
• Erickson tallied his first collegiate hat trick
• Dashner and Denhartigh both played their helping hands with two assists each

Up Next

The Saints will conclude their busy weekend of play by hosting the Cardinals at the Southside Ice Arena on Saturday (Nov. 23) with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.