ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's hockey team survived a wild third period and came up with the golden goal in overtime to pick up a 4-3 victory over visiting Fredonia State University.
Just like in the first game, the Thunder struck first in the contest. After breaking into the offensive zone the puck ended up in the hands of freshman Josh Wright at the point. He fired a short pass to sophomore Bobby Price who fired a shot on goal from just outside of the near faceoff circle. The shot was saved but the rebound was left free and senior Brad Jenion finished off the play with his second goal of the season.
The goal was the lone of the first and the second period and the two teams would head to the third with the score still set at 1-0 in favor of Trine.
The Blue Devil's scored the first goal of the second in just the second minute of the period. Then in the 14th minute they muscled the puck away from the Thunder and came up with a shorthanded goal to take their first lead of the weekend at 2-1.
In the next minute the home team resoundingly switched the momentum back in their favor. After the team cleared the puck from their defensive zone, Fredonia looked to set up behind their own net. Freshman Evan Carroll had other ideas, however, chasing down the opposition and poking the puck away. Junior Beau Binnie came up with the loose puck along the boards before passing it back to the center of the ice. From there senior Jared Domin fired a rocket of shot into the top of the net.
Thirty seconds after the equalizer, the Thunder retook the lead. After the Blue Devils had a breakaway shot get saved, Wright collected the rebound and caught the opposition in transition with a long pass to classmate Sam Antenucci who ended up with behind the defense. He deked the goalie and scored to give the team a 3-2 lead.
With just over a minute remaining in regulation, Fredonia pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker. The gambit paid off with the game-tying goal, forcing an overtime period at 3-3.
The first half of the five minute three-on-three overtime saw both teams have a chance at goals. Then sophomore Thad Marcola muscled his way over the offensive blueline before passing the puck back into the neutral zone to senior Brett Piper who wheeled toward the center of the ice before passing the puck to classmate Brett Tierney who raced up the far board. Tierney fired the puck toward the net, going just wide in front of the keeper. Piper was able to deflect the wayward shot just inside the left post for the game winning goal.
Freshman Kyle Kozma received his first start in net and picked up the win on the back of 23 saves.
Trine improves to 2-0 following the victory. They will jump into Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) play for their next pair of contests. They will host Aurora University next weekend for a pair of contests. The first is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4.