Making some noise: Finlandia extends unbeaten streak to five, tops Trine, 3-1
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HANCOCK -- The Trine Thunder entered Friday's contest with the Finlandia Lions men's hockey team in exactly the same position the Lions found themselves in last weekend, one point out of fourth in the NCHA South, four points out of sole possession of third.
The Lions, who came into the night riding a four-game unbeaten streak, were not about to surrender those precious points.
For 43:33, the two opponents battled evenly with the Lions having the stronger first period and the Thunder having the stronger second. That all changed when the Lions batted a rebound home. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Lions had earned a 3-1 victory.
"We have been having tremendous success lately," said Lions captain Alex Rezansoff. "The trend lately is that, as the game progresses, we just get better and better. That comes from our leadership on down. Everybody is pulling the rope the same way and that has been a huge benefit for us."
With the win, the Lions remained in a tie for third in the NCHA North with Northland, who defeated Marian, 1-0.
The Lions broke through at the 3:33 mark of the third when senior forward Timo Kocar drove the puck to the Trine net. While Kocar could not beat Thunder goaltender Brett Young, senior winger Paul Lochner found a way to poke the rebound through.
"That goal was just what you discuss in chalk talks all the time," said Lions coach Joe Burcar. "It's just simple execution and crashing the net."
From there, the Lions were off to the races. Less than two minutes later, they struck again.
With the Lions on a power play, they moved the puck out into the high slot where freshman winger Teddy Randell was able to get a shot off. Sophomore center Hunter Kero crashed the net and tipped the shot past Young at 5:40.
From there, the teams battled for the next several minutes. The Thunder had a breakaway just after killing off a 5-on-3 for two full minutes, but Garrett Hallford's scoring chance was stopped by Lions goaltender Santeri Seppinen, who was starting in place of sophomore Marcus Gloss, who was out with illness.
Senior center Kendall Bolen-Porter added a third Lions' goal when he took a lead pass from Randell and deposited the puck into an empty net with 2:27 remaining in regulation.
The Thunder did respond with a goal of their own at 19:00 from Michael Meisenbacher, but that was as close as they would get.
Burcar was pleased with the way his team responded after being challenged in the locker room between the second and third periods.
"We talked about it between the second and the third," said Burcar. "The response was just incredible."
The Lions started the game very strong. Just over a minute into the contest, Randell had a quality scoring chance when he skated in on a 2-on-1 with Kero, but the winger's shot was gloved away by Young.
Young was called upon to make another good save 4:30 later when sophomore winger Cale Markham skated into the left side of the slot. Lochner knocked down a clearing attempt and fed it over to Markham, who fired a shot that Young stopped.
"We came out of the gates with a lot of energy, a lot of passion," said Burcar.
Markham had another couple of chances 4:30 after that as he skated through the middle of the rink. He fired a shot and got his own rebound, but neither got past Young.
Assistant captain Connor Hannon had a chance shortly after on his backhand, stopped.
Late in the first, Young made yet another great stop when freshman center Tyler Watungwa fed the puck over to Lochner as he jumped on the ice after a Lions' penalty came to an end. Lochner made a move to his backhand, but Young tracked him and made the save.
In the second period, it was Seppinen's chance to shine. He came up big on a shot from Gianni Vitali three and a half minutes in that he fought off with his shoulder. He was tested again in a sequence late in the period that saw him make a stop on Blake Robertson. Hallford got to the rebound, but missed an open net. A third Thunder skater had a chance from the left side that also missed the net.
HONORING FAMILY
Before the game, the Lions honored the family of Thatcher Markham, presenting the family with a customized jersey.
Scoring
Trine 0 0 1 – 1
Finlandia 0 0 3 – 3
First period
None
Second period
None
Third period
1, FU, Paul Lochner (Timo Kocar), 3:33
2, FU, Hunter Kero (Teddy Randell), PP, 5:40
3, FU, Kendall Bolen-Porter (Randell, Mitzel), EN, 17:33
4, TU, Michael Meisenbacher (Gianni Vitali, Garrett Hallford), 19:00
Saves
TU, Young 12 8 11 – 31
FU, Seppinen 11 4 4 – 19
Power play
TU: 0/3; FU: 1/4
Penalties
TU: 8/16; FU: 5/10