News

A new team now occupies second place in the conference standings. #23 Marquette University’s sweep of Northern Michigan University helped them to leapfrog both #3 Marian University and #22 DePaul University by one point for the second position. Unfortunately for NMU they have now been mathematically eliminated from the conference tournament as a result of being swept. St. Mary’s University of MN held steady in fifth place as a result of their series split with Lewis University, while Lewis moved up one spot into a tie for eighth. Robert Morris University – Maroon took the second game of their series between the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh behind a stellar powerplay, going four for four, and now these two teams are tied for sixth place.

 

There is still a lot of potential volatility in the conference standings as there is only a three point difference between second and the tie for sixth place and each of the six teams occupying those spots has a minimum of four conference games remaining. It will be a fight to the end for each team to grab the best possible spot before hopefully heading to the conference tournament.

 

Lewis University v. St. Mary’s University of MN:

Lewis University struck right off the bat in game one at Canlan Ice Arena. Scoring just 28 seconds into the game was Dillon George, assisted by Matt Anderson. A hooking penalty on Nick Ligocki of Lewis put St. Mary’s University of MN on the powerplay at 3:51. Lewis looked to have killed off the penalty but with only five seconds remaining Jim Dreshar got SMU on the board. His powerplay goal at 5:46 was assisted by Kenneth O’Connor and Trason Arens. The rest of period one was scoreless and after the first 20 minutes of play the score was tied 1-1.

 

SMU took the lead early in period two when O’Connor lit the lamp at the 1:32 mark, credited with assists were Dreshar and Mitchell Plonka. They increased their lead to two at 7:28 off the stick of Dreshar, his second of the night, assisted by Jared Hippman and Arens. Lewis fought back and cut the lead in half at 10:24 when Nick Madej, assisted by Matt Ernsting and Nick Ligocki, found the back of the net. The second goal of the game by George, assists by Ernsting and John Schwarz, at the 10:40 mark tied the game once again. Period two came to a conclusion with the score a 3-3 tie.

 

Period three was a special teams display as there were four powerplay goals scored, two by each team. A penalty on SMU’s Doyle Peterson put Lewis on the powerplay 26 seconds into period three. Lewis took advantage and scored their third unanswered goal. Scoring the powerplay goal was Christopher Estey, assisted by Schwarz and Pat Conoboy. Another penalty on SMU put Lewis on the powerplay at 3:31 and once again Lewis found the back of the net. Increasing Lewis’ lead to two with the powerplay goal was Ernsting, assisted by Owen Ryan and Jake Tonelli, at 5:18. SMU started inching back when Kale Johnstone put home a powerplay goal at 15:38, assisted by Michael Brusa. They got the equalizer while on a 5 on 3 with 3:04 remaining. Scoring the tying goal for SMU was Plonka and he was assisted by Arens and Dreshar. Then with 1:23 to go in regulation Ernsting netted the game winner for Lewis, assisted by Schwarz. After a hard fought 60 minutes Lewis escaped with a 6-5 victory.

 

In net for Lewis and earning the victory was Colton Edling, stopping 45 of 50 shots on net. Jake Kelcher absorbed the loss for SMU, turning away 38 of the 44 shots put on net by Lewis.

 

Period one of game two saw just one goal, a shorthander by SMU’s Michael Brusa, assisted by Jared Hippman, at 14:51. SMU kept up the pressure in period two, scoring 43 seconds in. Notching the second goal for SMU was Trason Arens, assisted by Doyle Peterson and Jim Dreshar. The lead became 3-0 at 11:36 when Dreshar scored the first of his two second period tallies. His second came at the 16:00 mark while SMU was on the powerplay, increasing their lead to four, and was assisted by Kenneth O’Connor and Kale Johnstone. Lewis broke Blair Sanders shutout attempt at 18:28 when Christopher Estey, assisted by John Schwarz put the puck over the goal line. Period two came to a close with SMU holding a 4-1 lead.

 

Lewis cut SMU’s lead to two off of the most exiting play in hockey, the penalty shot, at 11:20. Scoring the goal for Lewis was Estey, his second. The excitement of the moment was short-lived however, as 16 seconds later Daniel Schmidt knocked one past Colton Edling, assisted by K. Johnstone and Shane Breslin, putting SMU back up by three. Neither team could find the back of the net during the remainder of the period, so at the final horn SMU came away with a 5-2 victory and series split.

 

Earning the victory for SMU was Blair Sanders who stopped 46 of the 48 shots on net by Lewis. In defeat Colton Edling stopped 48 of the 53 shots put on net by SMU.

 

Northern Michigan University v. #23 Marquette University:

#23 Marquette University showed no ill effects after their nearly five hour trip up to Marquette, MI to take on Northern Michigan University, scoring 59 seconds into the opening stanza. Getting the scoring started for Marquette was Michael Desalvo, assisted by Brian Kennedy. Marquette made the score 2-0 at the 16:40 mark when Conor Coyne, assisted by RJ Deneweth and Adam Gesior, found the back of the net. As the teams went to their respective locker rooms for the first intermission Marquette held a 2-0 lead.

 

Period two saw Marquette strike early as well when Marquette’s third goal of the night was scored by Justin Klatt, assisted by Ethan Stoudt, at 1:12. The lead increase to four 2:11 later off the stick of Matthew Mogensen, with an assist credited to Desalvo. The rest of the period would be played scoreless and after two periods of play Marquette was in charge 4-0.

 

The first two plus minutes of the third period saw a flurry of action and goals by both teams. Marquette struck first, scoring 34 seconds in. Credited with Marquette’s fifth goal on the night was Coyne, unassisted. NMU finally got on the board 13 seconds later when Max Gruzdev, assisted by Justin Pantle and Eric Farley, put one past Marquette goaltender Jim Bertane. Klatt answered 57 later with his second goal of the night, assisted by Drew Cassidy and Teddy Apap, making the score 6-1. Only 32 seconds elapsed after Klatt’s goal before Gruzdev, assisted by Eric Farley and Alexander Svoboda, notched his second goal of the period. Marquette put the game out of reach when Kennedy scored, assisted by Deneweth. Klatt finished off the hat trick, making the score 8-2, at the 16:45 mark, credited with an assist was Cassidy. The final goal of the night tickled the twine at 17:10 and was scored by Marquette’s Eric Plotz, assisted by Deneweth and Coyne. As the horn sounded the end of regulation time, Marquette emerged with a 9-2 victory.

 

Earning the victory for Marquette was Jim Bertane, turning away 26 of 28 shots on net. In a losing effort Zach Kooi stopped 42 of the 51 shots Marquette put on net.

 

Marquette struck first in game two off the stick of Brian Kennedy, assisted by Matthew Mogensen, at 5:42. NMU would not have to wait till the third period to notch their first goal as in game one, tying the game up at the 18:17 mark. Scoring for NMU was Max Gruzdev, with assists by Eric Farley and Zach Kooi. At the end of the first period the game was tied 1-1 despite Marquette holding a 23 to 8 shot advantage.

 

With five goals in the first six minutes of the second period Marquette took control of the game. Scoring at 1:04 was Conor Coyne, assisted by Marc Shipbaugh. Michael Desalvo, unassisted, made it a 3-1 game in favor of Marquette at 3:55. Twelve seconds later Teddy Apap, assisted by Eric Plotz, increased the lead to four. NMU got in on the goal scoring at 5:13, cutting the lead back down to three. Scoring for NMU was Alexander Svoboda, assisted by Wesley Zegan and Austin Schultz. Marquette would regain their four goal advantage ten seconds later when Adam Gesior found the back of the net. Apap finished the Marquette onslaught at 6:01 with his second goal of the period, credited with an assist was Desalvo. Zegan brought NMU back within three at the 13:17 mark, assisted by Gruzdev and Nolan Kremer. Heading into the second intermission Marquette held a 6-3 lead and an amazing 53 to 19 advantage in shots on goal.

 

The Golden Eagles of Marquette kept shooting in period three, finding the back of the net three more times. Finishing off the hat trick was Apap, assisted by Desalvo, at 3:56, increasing the lead to four. Justin Klatt scored his first goal of the night at 5:08, making the score 8-3. The last goal of the night came off of the stick of RJ Deneweth, assisted by Coyne, with 1:57 remaining in the game. After 60 minutes of play Marquette was victorious by a score of 9-3.

 

Credited with the win was Robert Arner; he turned away 25 of the 28 shots he faced. Absorbing the loss in a superhuman performance, stopping 77 of the 86 shots Marquette put on net, was Zach Kooi.

 

Robert Morris University – Maroon v. University of Wisconsin Oshkosh:

In game two of the series between Robert Morris University – Maroon and the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh the first goal of the game came while RMU was on the powerplay. Scoring the powerplay goal for RMU was Jake Dillman, assisted by Ryan Marciniak and Greg Sommesi, at 5:20. UWO netted their own powerplay goal, tying the score at one, off the stick of Theran Wanta at the 10:44 mark, credited with assists were Rex Whealon and Jason Johnson. RMU regained their one goal advantage with 1:17 to go in the period when Drew Downey, assisted by AJ Kapcheck and Taylor Dignan, put the puck past UWO goaltender Brendan Thomas. The score was 2-1 in favor of RMU after the first period of play.

 

RMU increased their lead to two at 9:22 of the second period when Matthew Cessna scored, assisted by Kapcheck. Matt Edwards of UWO responded with his first goal of the night, assisted by JT Smithback, at the 11:55 mark. Two minutes later Jason Johnson scored for UWO and tied the game up at three. Then with just 40 seconds remaining in the period Marciniak scored the third powerplay goal of the night for RMU after a cross-checking penalty on Johnson of UWO. Period two came to a close with RMU up 4-3.

 

The stellar special teams play of RMU continued in the third period as they once again were able to capitalize off of a UWO penalty. A hooking penalty on Owen Ahlstrom at 3:03 put RMU on the powerplay for the fourth time in the game and this time they only needed eight seconds to increase their lead to 5-3. Scoring the fifth goal for RMU was Dignan, assisted by Kapcheck and Tyler Crites. UWO was able to get back within one when Edwards scored his second goal of the game, assists by Andrew Schulenburg and Whealon, at 19:04. For the last 56 seconds of the game UWO could not net the equalizer to send the game into overtime, so the game came to a conclusion with RMU leading 5-4.

 

Securing the victory for RMU was Mike Newberger, stopping 26 of the 30 shots he faced. Brendan Thomas endured defeat for UWO, turning away 30 of 35 shots on net.

 

Non-Conference:

#2 Aurora University swept #16 Davenport University, winning 7-2 on Friday and 9-2 on Saturday.

#3 Marian University swept SIU – Edwardsville, winning 4-2 on Friday and 8-2 on Saturday.

#22 DePaul University tied University of Kentucky 3-3 on Friday and won 2-1 on Saturday.