GENEVA, ILL. – The Trine men's NCAA hockey team came away with their second Northern Collegiate Athletic Association (NCHA) victory of the season by defeating Aurora University 3-2 this evening. Three different Thunder skaters scored in the victory.
The Thunder struck first in the contest, when in the last minute of the first period freshman forward Sammy Nardicchio (Commerce, Mich.) came away with his fifth goal of the year to put Trine up 1-0. Senior forward Lucas Bombardier (Pittsford, Vt.) added the assist.
In the second the Spartans came out with two goals in a row to take the lead themselves 2-1. Aurora would own the lead for just one minute, before freshman forward Niko Moulakelis (Prairie View, Ill.) tied the game with his fourth goal of the season.
The game remained tied for only another minute of game time before freshman forward Corey Robertson (South Lyon, Mich.) came away with his team-high seventh goal of the season. Senior Ryan Murray (Farmington Hills, Mich.) added the assist on the goal, which gave Trine a 3-2 lead.
Following the goal, the Thunder defense clamped down and kept the Spartans scoreless for the rest of the game, including 42 seconds where Aurora eschewed their goalie for an extra attacker.
Sophomore Brett Young (Livonia, Mich.) got the start for Trine in net turned aside 30 shots to get the win.
The game featured only 12 minutes of penalty time, with both team only committing three infractions each. All of the penalties came in the first period of play.
Following the victory the Thunder improve to 6-15-2 overall and 2-12-2 in the NCHA. They will finish off the season next weekend, Feb. 9 and Feb. 10, with a pair of home NCHA contests. On Friday, they take on Concordia University (Wisc.) at 7 p.m. Then on Saturday, they take on MSOE at 4 p.m.