Box Score FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 1 Ice Hockey team took just 60 seconds to open up a lead they would never relinquish on their way to a 5-2 win over Midland University Friday night.
Michael Schmitt's tally with just 66 seconds remaining in the opening frame proved to be the game winner as he staked Indiana Tech to a 3-0 lead, but it wasn't until
Cameron Dimmitt slid a backhand shot along the ice on a penalty shot that gave the Orange and Black some breathing room. Dimmitt's tally was his second point of the night and put icing on the victory cake as Tech collected its third home point of the season.
After
Vaughn Clouston lit the lamp just a minute into the contest,
Ian Maisonneuve extended the lead to two midway through the first before Schmitt gave his team the late 3-0 first-period lead.
Both teams would finish the game with a pair of goals after Tech went up by three. Dimmitt and
Michael Cruse were flagged with penalties about a minute apart in the early going of the second and Midland took advantage of the opportunity to get back in the game. First, they connected on a two-man advantage with a 5-on-3 goal and followed that up with another power-play tally to bring them within a goal at 3-2 with Cruse still in the box. It took just 30 seconds for Midland to cash in on specialty-team play with two goals and it changed the complex of the game. With the exception of another call on Cruse, Tech would go penalty-free the rest of the contest.
Outside of those two power-play goals, Tech netminder
Matt Hughes was perfect on the night. During 5-on-5 play, he was unbeatable as he picked up his first win of the season by turning aside 27 shots. He frustrated the opposition so much that they took a charging penalty against him in the late going that all but eliminated any chance of a Midland comeback.
Indiana Tech got another strong performance from their captain,
Jake Henrikson, who assisted on the team's second and third goals and hit the post on a partial breakaway midway through the contest.
Henrikson, Schmitt and Dimmitt led the offense with a pair of points each, while
Jarrett Pfeiffer added an empty-net goal in the final minute from
Hudson Sabin to round out the scoring.
Tech will face Midland again Saturday night starting at 8:00 p.m. at the SportOne Parkview IceHouse. The epic rematch pits two inaugural ACHA teams against one another that both happen to go by the name Warriors.
