ANGOLA, IND. - The Trine men's NCAA hockey team came away with the first victory in program history tonight by defeating Chatham University 4-1.
The Thunder scored the lone goal of the first period in just the sixth minute when freshman forward Max DiCicco (Howell, Mich.) tallied his first goal of the season. Fellow freshman Sammy Nardicchio (Commerce, Mich.) added the helper. Trine took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
The first three-quarters of the second period saw both defenses buckle down and as both teams failed to find the back of the net. In the 16th minute that changed when freshman defender Blake Robertson (South Lyon, Mich.) blocked a shot in the defensive end and passed it ahead to Nardicchio who found himself alone behind the Chatham defense. He would put the puck past the goalie for his second goal of the season putting the Thunder up by the score of 2-0. The goal also gave Nardicchio a team-high two points in the contest.
Trine was not done building their lead in the period as just two minutes later senior forward Lucas Bombardier (Pittsford, Vt.) angled a shot into the net for his fourth goal of the season. Freshmen forwards Alex Johanson (Skokie, Ill.) and Corey Robertson (South Lyon, Mich.) both tallied assists on the goal. While the assist would be Johanson's lone point of the game, he barely missed out on a goal striking the crossbar on a breakaway attempt at the end of the first period.
The Thunder added their final goal of the contest in the eighth minute of the third period. The play began with sophomore forward Tanner Bennett (Columbus, Ind.) winning a faceoff in his own end. Freshman forward Christian Karbler (Westland, Mich.) took the puck down the ice and put fired off a blistering shot on goal. While the Cougar goaltender was able to turn the shot aside he could not control the rebound and junior forward Chris Timm (Dublin, Calif.) took buried the loose puck into the back of the net. The goal was Timm's first of the season and gave the Thunder a commanding 4-0 lead.
Sophomore Brett Young once again got the start in goal for the Thunder and finished the game with 26 saves and the victory. Carried a shutout chance into the final three minutes of the game, but could not finish it off. The lone goal for Chatham came on a breakaway opportunity. Chatham would pull their goalie in favor of an extra attacker with two minutes remaining and would actually play 6-on-4 most of that time due to two Thunder penalties. But Trine would buckle down and keep the Cougars off the board to finish off the 4-1 victory.
The Thunder will look for the weekend sweep of Chatham tomorrow, December 16 at 4 p.m. before entering their midseason break.
