ANGOLA, Ind. – Five different members of the Trine University men's hockey team scored, as the team held off a late advance by St. Norbert College to pick up their fifth win of the season with a final score of 5-4.
The Thunder started the scoring in just the fifth minute of the contest, taking advantage of the first penalty of the game which went against the Green Knights. On the power play, Matteo Ybarra kept the puck in the offensive zone before passing it off to Sam Antenucci. The sophomore was able to find the back of the net from the near side.
Eight minutes later the Thunder added to the lead. This time Michael DiPietra made the pass from one offensive faceoff circle to the other, finding Josh Wright almost on top of the near side dot. Wright fired a shot into the upper corner of the net, bouncing it off the pipe and into the goal.
St. Norbert scored their first goal of the game on a power-play opportunity of their own in the final six minutes of the period, cutting the lead to one at 2-1. That score held into the first intermission.
The visitors tied the game at the start of the second period. But The Thunder matched them with a goal of their own in the later part of the same stanza to retain the lead going into the third period. Thad Marcola scored the goal with Drew Welsch and Jackson Clark adding assists.
Trine built their largest lead in the opening six minutes of the third, scoring two goals to make the score 5-2 with 14 minutes remaining in regulation. Chace McCardle and Welsch each tallied a goal, with Brendan Finn adding an assist on both goals while Evan Carroll and Wright added one each.
The Green Knights were ready to go quietly. They scored a third goal in the 13th minute of the period to make the score 5-3. Then in the final three minutes they played without a goalie to put extra pressure on the Trine defense. They scored a fourth goal in the final minute, utilizing an empty net and a penalty to skate with a two-man advantage.
The Thunder defense along with starting goalie Kyle Kozma stood up to the pressure and held on to the one-goal lead, ending the game with a 5-4 victory.
Trine improves to 5-0-0 overall and 3-0-0 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) play after the win. The same two teams will meet again tomorrow, Saturday, November 11. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
