Falcons Stun Spartans in NCHA Opener

GENEVA, Ill. – In their Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) opener, the CUW men's ice hockey team defeated the Spartans of Aurora University, a team that ranked ninth in last week's United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) poll 5-3, to improve to 2-1-0 on the year and move to 1-0-0 in conference action.

The Spartans lit the lamp first, scoring their first goal of the night with 4:46 in the first period. Then, with 1:14 remaining in the first, Aurora doubled their lead and enjoyed a 2-0 margin heading into the first intermission.

But the Falcons came out of the break determined not to go away.

Early in the second period, junior Garrett McArthur (London, Ont.) used his speed to streak up the ice past the Aurora defense. With no one in front of him and quickly approaching the goal, McArthur ripped a shot past the Aurora goaltender to give CUW their first goal with 16:24 remaining in the second period.

Two minutes and 20 seconds later, on the counter, sophomore Derek Humphreys (Spokane, Wash.) scored his fourth goal of the young season after skating around the Spartan goaltender to equalize the score at 2-2.

Exactly two minutes later, the second period scoring frenzy continued when CUW junior Zach Brydges (Woodbury, Minn.) came away with the loose puck inside the Falcons' attacking zone. Brydges left the puck in front of the net for sophomore Grant Newcomer (McFarland, Wis.), who would slide the puck past the Aurora goaltender to give the Falcons the 3-2 lead.

Then, with 5:01 remaining in the second period, CUW tallied another goal as sophomore goaltender Gabe Rosek (East Lansing, Mich.) advanced the puck up the ice to sophomore Grant Newcomer, who passed it to freshman Logan Kroyman (Deerfield Beach, Fla.). With a tight window to shoot, Kroyman blasted a shot past the goaltender to take the 4-2 lead after two periods of play.

The third period saw CUW junior Dain Sardelli (Hebron, N.D.) steal the puck and score his first goal of the season to give the Falcons the comfortable 5-2 lead at the 13:47 mark in the third period.

Determined to make a comeback, the Spartans would respond with a goal of their own just 52 seconds later.

Despite their best efforts to mount the comeback, the Falcons closed the door on the Spartans to give CUW's men's ice hockey the 5-3 victory, the program's first victory over Aurora since Feb. 20th, 2021.

In the win, Gabe Rosek recorded 26 saves. Meanwhile, freshman Sawyer Wirsing (Arundel, Maine) won nine of 19 faceoffs. Offensively, Logan Kroyman led the Blue and White with six shots.

The Falcons will now look to make it two straight over the Spartans, as Concordia will host Aurora tomorrow, Nov. 3rd, at the Ozaukee Ice Center, with the puck drop slated for 7 p.m.