CLINTON, N.Y. – The Trine University men's hockey team lost an early lead, but responded before finishing off with an overtime victory over their hosts from Hamilton College.
The Thunder struck first in the contest, scoring the opening goal of the day in the fourth minute. The play started with Jackson Clark recovering a loose puck in the defensive zone while facing his own goal. He fired a quick pass to his partner Tim Organ who passed the puck up the boards, bypassing most of the defense. Jack Cooper collected the puck in the neutral zone and advanced on the net along with Sam Antenucci. Rather than making a pass, Cooper went glove-side for the goal.
Trine added to their lead at the start of the second period. Following an offensive zone faceoff, Clark fought off a pair of Continentals to keep the puck on the right side of the blueline. His eventual pass ricocheted off Michael DiPietra and toward the near side boards. Drew Welsch was waiting for the puck and fired a quick pass across the face of the net, finding Tyler Blanchard on the move toward the net. The freshman scored the goal from the far faceoff circle.
Hamilton controlled the rest of the second period scoring a pair to tie the contest. They added a third goal in the first half of the third period to take their first lead of the game at 3-2.
That score held into the waning minutes of regulation. When rink maintenance caused a delay just outside of two minutes remaining, the Thunder pulled their goalie in favor of the extra offense. A minute later, Antenucci tied up a faceoff in the forward zone, with the puck eventually ending up on the stick of Bobby Price who flung a shot wide of the net. The puck rode the boards back to the point where Thad Marcola fired a shot toward net. Matteo Ybarra deflected the puck home to tie the contest and force overtime.
In the opening minute of the 3-on-3 overtime, Clark held the puck in the neutral zone as the Thunder finished a line change. The senior exchanged a few passes with DiPietra before the freshman skated into the offensive zone and fired a shot from the slot. The puck rebounded back between the circles where Price was waiting. His shot somehow found its way through a defender and the goalie to give the team the win at 4-3.
The Thunder improve to 11-2 overall following the victory. They will faceoff with Hamilton again tomorrow, Saturday, December 30. That game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
