Men's Hockey Falls to Aurora

MEQUON, Wis. – Friday night saw the Falcons face Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) opponent in the Spartans of Aurora University after taking game one of the series on Friday, Nov. 2nd, with a final score of 5-3. 

In what was a back-and-forth matchup, Aurora pulled away with the victory 5-3, dropping CUW's record to 2-2-0 on the year and 1-1-0 in conference action.

Like Friday's matchup, Aurora had the 2-0 lead after the first period as the Spartans outshot the Falcons 17-5.

But the Falcons mounted a powerful response in the second period. Just 35 seconds into the second period, junior Nick Wieben (Mankato, Minn.) gave the Falcons their first goal of the night on the one-timer from a sharp pass from freshman Riley Klugerman (Aurora, Ont.) and sophomore Noah Roitman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.).

Six minutes and one second later, at the 13:24 mark in the second period, sophomore Derek Humphreys (Spokane, Wash.) scored on the powerplay on a pass from sophomore Grant Newcomer (McFarland, Wis.) to equalize the game at two.

Aurora responded with 6:18 remaining in the second period to recapture the lead, 3-2. 

On the power play with 3:20 left in the second period, the Falcons' sophomore Noah Roitman started the break, finding freshman Alex Ochitwa up the ice (Prince George, B.C.). Ochitwa quickly found junior Zach Brydges (Woodbury, Minn.) open near the goal. Brydges then ripped a quick shot from the right side of the goal past the Spartan's goaltender to knot the game up, 3-3, heading into the third and final period of play. 

Aurora retook the lead with 11:34 remaining and added one more goal on the power play with 2:18 left to secure the 5-3 lead. Despite the Falcons' finding the back of the net three times in the second period, the Spartans kept the Falcons scoreless in the third period to hold on to the 5-3 victory.

In the loss, sophomore goaltender Gabe Rosek recorded 47 saves, while Nick Wieben won seven of 13 faceoffs. Offensively, the flock was led by freshman Matt Koepke (Vernon Hills, Ill.), who recorded five shots, as Noah Roitman had two assists. 

The Falcons will take two weeks to rest and recover before returning to the ice on Nov. 17th, when they travel to the Appleton Family Ice Center to take on the Vikings of Lawrence University, with the puck drop slated for 8 p.m.