ANGOLA, IND.-- The Trine men's NCAA hockey team were unable to overcome an early scoring streak by Northland College and were defeated by the score of 9-3.
Less than a minute into the game the Lumberjacks were able to score the first goal of the contest with an even-strength goal by Jason Reynolds. Northland would go on to score two more goals in the period to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
The Thunder would finally respond with a goal of their own in the eighth minute of the second period. Freshman forward Michael Meisenbacher (Basking Ridge, N.J.) buried a rebounded shot for his first goal of the season. Both Jon Murrell (Shelby Township, Mich.) and Niko Moulakelis (Prairie View, Ill.) tallied assists on the goal. The Lumberjacks would respond, however, scoring their own goal in the period to take a 4-1 lead into the second intermission.
Head Coach Alex Todd was forced to take drastic measures in the third period to attempt to get his team back in the game. On both powerplay opportunities in the third period, Trine would pull their goalie for an extra skater. While the Thunder would benefit from the extra attacker with a goal, Northland was able to take advantage of the empty net and add goals of their own.
On the first of the two power plays in the period the Thunder would tally their second goal of the evening. Freshman forward Corey Robertson (South Lyon, Mich.) would emerge from a scrum in front of the net to put away his second goal of the season. Fellow forwards Alex Johanson (Skokie, Ill.) and Christian Karbler (Westland, Mich.) would add assists on the goal.
The final Trine goal would come in the 12th minute of the period when Moulakelis stole the puck at his own blue-line and took it to the net himself. The unassisted goal was his first of the season and gave him the team-high second point of the contest.
The Thunder will finish of the weekend slate of competition on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. when they take on the Saints of the College of St. Scholastica in a home conference match.
