GENEVA, Ill. -- The Trine University men's hockey team trailed by five goals after two periods but cut the deficit back to two before ultimately falling in the contest by the score of 7-4 to nationally ranked Northern Collegiate Hockey Association for, Aurora University.
The Spartans, who were ranked eighth in the most recent USCHO national poll, scored the first five goals of the game during the first 25 minutes of play, building a 5-0 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining in the second period.
The Thunder go their first goal of the contest in the seventh minute of the second. After the tea fought their way into the offensive zone, freshman Bobby Price (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) passed the puck to junior Justin Meers (St. Charles, Mo.) who fired a hard shot on goal. The rebound from the save came out between the faceoff circles where junior Brad Jenion (Macclesfield, Great Britain) collected it before passing back to Meers who made his second chance count cutting the lead to 5-1.
Aurora struck the final blow of the second and would take a 6-1 lead into the final period.
The comeback attempt really started for Trine in the fifth minute of the third period, which started a three minute stretch of game time where the team would score three goals.
The first game in the fifth minute. Sophomore Thad Marcola (Almont, Mich.) collected a loose puck in the neutral zone and carried it deep into the offensive zone before firing a shot on goal. The Spartan goalie let the rebound from his save get away from him and into the waiting clutch of junior Brendan Prappas (West Bloomfield, Mich.) who wasted no time scoring the goal.
In the sixth minute the team cut the deficit to 6-3 wih their second goal of the period. Junior Brett Piper (Cartier, Manitoba) passed the puck from the top of one faceoff circle into the other where sophomore Chace McCardle (Southgate, Mich.) fired a shot on goal. Once again Trine made the opposition pay for a wayward rebound when Marcola put the puck into the open backdoor.
Finally, in the eighth minute the team cut the lead to two at 6-4. McCardle fired a shot right up the middle which tipped off of Price into the goalie, with the rebound bouncing to the left side of the net. From there senior Garrett Hallford (McKinney, Texas) had a clear shot on goal an sunk the shot.
The Spartans seemed to settle the defense following the streak and kept the Thunder from scoring again in the contest. An insurance goal in the 14th minute sealed the game at 7-4.
The loss drops Trine to 9-4 overall and 4-3 in NCHA play. They will finish the weekend tomorrow, Saturday, December 11 when they face off with Aurora again. The game is set to start at 4 p.m. ET.
