ANGOLA, Ind. -- The Trine University men's hockey team need almost every second they could get but finished off a 3-2 comeback over visiting Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE).
The Raiders came out strong in the contest building a 2-0 lead in the first period. The first on even strength in the eighth minute of the contest and the second coming up a man in the 18th minute of play.
The Thunder started their comeback with a pair of goals coming just under a minute apart in the second period.
The first came in the ninth minute of play. Sophomore Brett Tierney (West Chicago, Ill.) started the play with a long pass up the center of the ice. Junior TJ Delaney (St. Louis, Mo.) collected the puck and fired off a shot, the rebound went just wide enough for sophomore Brett Piper (Cartier, Manitoba) to fire his own shot behind the opposing goalie. The goal was Piper's second of the season.
Just under a minute later Trine tied the game at two. This time junior Garrett Hallford (McKinney, Texas) deflected a pass, popping the puck over the net and goalie. Sophomore Frank Trazzera (Keller, Texas) was able to settle the puck for classmate Justin Meers (St. Charles, Mo.) who fired a shot from just outside of the faceoff circle into the heavy traffic in front of the net, sneaking the puck into the goal.
The 2-2 tie would last through the rest of regulation and the teams headed into a 3-on-3 overtime period. It looked like the teams would be heading for a shootout with the tie remaining with just ten seconds remaining. But in those waning moments, Meers was able to come up with a defensive zone steal and pushed the puck by the last MSOE skater to a streaking Brendan Prappas (West Bloomfield, Mich.) who found sped his way into a breakaway. The sophomore deked right and then went left over the top of the opposing goalie's leg to score the decisive goal with just 1.5 seconds remaining.
Senior Aaron Brickman (St. Louis, Mo.) picked up the win in net after taking over to start the second period. He finished the game with 15 saves while allowing no goals. He also turned aside strongly defended a penalty shot in the 12th minute of the second period.
The 3-2 victory gives the Thunder a 2-4 overall record and a 1-0 record in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) play. They will travel to face Aurora University in their next game. The contest is scheduled for Friday, February 5 at 7 p.m. CST.