ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine men's NCAA hockey team was defeated by nationally-ranked St. Norbert College by the score of 5-1.
Despite the lopsided final score, the Thunder started the game strong. In the sixth minute of the first stanza, sophomore blueliner Dante Suffredini (Shelby Township, Mich.) rocketed a shot past the Green Knights' goaltender to give the Thunder the early 1-0 lead. Freshme0n forwards Christian Karbler (Westland, Mich.) and Michael Meisenbacher (Basking Ridge, N.J.) recorded assists on the goal.
St. Norbert responded with a goal of their own in the ninth minute of the period, when Keegan Milligan pushed the puck past sophomore Brett Young (Livonia, Mich.), who got the start in net for the Thunder. Both defenses found their grooves following the goal and the score would be 1-1 entering the first intermission.
In the second period, the Green Knights quickly found their offensive rhythm, scoring two goals in the first two minutes of the period. All told they would score four goals in the period and would take the 5-1 lead into the final period.
The Thunder played much of the final period down a skater. Their special teams stepped up killing off four penalties in the final stanza. Trine held St. Norbert scoreless for the remainder of the game but was unable to break through the opposition's defense for any goals of their own meaning the final score would remain 5-1.
The Thunder fall to 5-14-2 overall and 1-11-2 in the NCHA following the defeat. St. Norbert breaks out of a three-game losing streak with the win, improving to 16-4-1 overall and 11-3 in the NCHA.
Trine takes the road for the final time this season next weekend for a pair of NCHA conference games. On Saturday, February 3, they take on Lake Forest College at 8 p.m. Then on Sunday, February 4, they faceoff with Aurora University at 5 p.m.