ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Trine University men's hockey team finished the weekend undefeated after shutting out Hamline University in the second half of the weekend doubleheader by the score of 4-0.
The Thunder wasted little time taking a lead, scoring their first goal in just the second minute of play. Senior Garrett Hallford (McKinney, Texas) came up with an offensive zone steal passing the puck to junior Justin Meers (St. Charles, Mo.) who quickly passed it back to Hallford. After a quick fake toward the net, Hallford passed it across the face instead to freshman Tyler Shetland (Laguna Hills, Calif.) who wasted little time putting the puck through the wide-open net in front of the diving goalie.
The goal was the lone score of the first period and Trine took the 1-0 lead into halftime. It took the team even less time in the second period to add to their lead. Following a faceoff victory in the offensive zone, junior Brendan Prappas (West Bloomfield, Mich.) fired a shot from the point that was turned aside by the opposition's goalie. The rebound came out wide where senior Brandon Krumpschmid (Grand Rapids, Mich.) collected it before passing it across the face of the net to freshman Bobby Price (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) who scored the goal.
The Thunder added to their lead in the 14th minute of the second. Sophomore Jackson Clark (Fort Mill, S.C.) started the play passing the puck up the boards to Meers who would forward the puck behind the net to Hallford. After moving just to the front of the net, Hallford passed it across the face to Meers who beat the goalie for the 3-0 lead.
The final goal of the contest came just under a minute later. Krumpschmid came up with the puck in the neutral zone before passing it to Prappas who quickly pushed it ahead to Price who had positioned himself behind the defense. Price streaked to the net and deked the goalie tallying his second goal of the contest.
After a scoreless third period, Trine finished off the contest with the 4-0 victory.
In net, sophomore Shane Brancato (Lake Villa, Ill.) picked up his first shutout of the season finishing the contest with 21 saves.
The Thunder improve to 2-0 following the win. They will travel to face the State University of New York at Fredonia in their next contest on Friday, Nov. 5. The game is set to start 7 p.m.