ANGOLA, Ind. -- The Trine University men's hockey team played a close contest with Concordia University Wisconsin, but a four-goal fourth period lifted the opposition to a 5-3 victory, handing the Thunder their fourth loss of the season.
The Thunder struck first in the contest with a goal in the ninth minute of the contest. A shot from freshman Thad Marcola (Almont, Mich.) led to a quick rebound right in front of the net that senior Corey Robertson (South Lyon, Mich.) helped to settle on the ice. Sophomore Zach VanCompernolle (Travers City, Mich.) swooped in and finished off the play with his first goal of the season.
Just over six minutes later Trine would add to their lead. This time sophomore Brendan Prappas (West Bloomfield, Mich.) started the play with a shot of his own, with classmate Justin Meers (St. Charles, Mo.) attempting to settle the rebound. Junior Garrett Hallford (McKinney, Texas) came away with the goal, his first of the season, to give the team a 2-0 lead.
In the final seconds of the period, the Falcons were awarded a power-play and took quick advantage of the opportunity scoring their first goal of the contest with just seven seconds remaining. The 2-1 Thunder lead would last through a scoreless second period into the opening minutes of the third.
In the third minute of the final period, CUW tied the game with their second goal of the game and then pulled ahead six minutes later with their third.
Trine took advantage of a power-play opportunity of their own to tie the game again. Junior Hunter Payment (Monroe, Mich.) collected the puck behind the net and fired a pass to the point, where Meers was waiting to fire his shot toward the net. Sophomore Frank Trazzera (Keller, Texas) tipped the puck past the goalie for his first goal of the season.
The 3-3 tie remained in place going into the final two minutes of the contest when a 2-on-1 opportunity for the Falcons gave them the lead again. The Thunder pulled their goalie in the final minute to look for a tying goal but were iced from the game by an empty-netter from CUW and the game would end in a 5-3 loss for Trine.
In goal, freshman Elias Sandholm (Stockholm, Sweden) played well despite giving up four goals. He finished the contest with 31 saves.
The Thunder will look to bounce back when they travel to face Concordia Wisconsin again on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. EST.
