Falcons Top Thunder in Overtime

ANGOLA, Ind. – The CUW ACHA hockey team improved to 8-3-1 on the season, toppling the Trine Thunder in a late-night contest that needed more than 60 minutes to declare a 4-3 winner.

Trine opened the scoring halfway through the first period, as Braeden Piper collected his goal of the season off of an assist from Noah Henslee.

It would be nearly a whole period of play before the scoreboard would be altered again, as the Falcons would tally their first goal of the game to draw even midway through the second period, with junior Garrett Wilderman picking up a goal off of an assist from senior Lucas Kreuser.

The two squads would remain deadlocked through the remainder of the second period, but at 6:04 in the third, senior Trenton Sherman (Farmington, Minn.) buried a rebound into an open net after a shot from junior Tommy Cassel (Grafton, Wis.) that was initially stopped on a 2-on-1. The goal would grant the Falcons their first lead of the game.

Just over two minutes later, senior John Swiatek (Rochester, N.Y.) would intercept a pass and deposit the puck into the net from the slot, doubling Concordia's lead with just over ten minutes to play.

At 16:44 in the period, the Thunder cut the deficit in half as Nate Mastrony buried a one-timer off of a backhand pass from Reese Boehme along the boards. Desperate to notch the equalizer, Trine would score with the extra attacker on the ice with just six seconds remaining in the contest, as John Kosa brought the score to even at three goals apiece.

However, Concordia would spoil the late-game heroics for the Thunder early in the overtime frame. Freshman Chuck Emme (Glenview, Ill.) put the game to bed for the Falcons by a 4-3 margin.

Senior Vincent Falcone (Elgin, Ill.) finished with 38 saves on the evening for the Falcons to register a .927 save percentage.

Concordia will be back on the ice on Saturday night for round two with Trine.