ANGOLA, Ind. -- The Trine University men's hockey team came up with a pair of goals in the final period to come away with a 2-0 victory over visiting nationally-ranked St. Norbert College.
Both teams went scoreless through the first two periods with both goalies making crucial saves to keep their squads in the game. Trine racked up more shots in the two periods entering the final intermission with 22 to the opposition 13.
Things heated up in the final period. It started early when two quick penalties in the third minute gave the Green Knights a two-man advantage for a minute and a half. The Thunder penalty kill came up big in those 90 seconds killing off both penalties without surrendering a goal.
St. Norbert gave up a penalty of their own in the 12th minute of the period, giving Trine just their second power-play opportunity of the game. After the opening faceoff in the offensive end, a saved shot rebounded out deep for the Thunder where sophomore Garrett Hallford (McKinney, Texas) collected it. After passing it back and forth with senior captain Henry Hearon (Chicago, Ill.), Hallford fired off a shot which ricocheted off of freshman Brendan Prappas (West Bloomfield, Mich.) into the back of the net.
The goal, Prappas's third of the weekend and season, gave Trine the 1-0 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in regulation.
The score held into the final minute of play when the Green Knight's pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker. The risk backfired as junior Corey Robertson (South Lyon, Mich.) came up with a steal in the neutral zone. The puck ended up on the stick of sophomore Brandon Krumpschmid (Grand Rapids, Mich.) who sealed the deal with the empty-netter.
The 2-0 lead lasted the final nine seconds of the contest and the Thunder emerged victorious.
Senior Brett Young (Livonia, Mich.) played spectacularly in net for Trine, coming up with his second shutout of the season. He came up with 24 saves in the contest including 11 in the crucial third period.
The victory marks the program's first win against a nationally-ranked opponent. The team improves to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) play.
The Thunder will hit the road for their next contest, traveling to face the College of St. Scholastica for a pair of NCHA contests. The first comes on Friday, November 22, with opening puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. Central Time.