Box Score FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 1 Ice Hockey team looked like a different team than the previous night. Going up against a Grand Valley team that recorded just two losses in its first 21 starts entering the game, the Warriors had their work cut out for them from the get-go. Aside from taking the first 20 minutes to get their feet wet, Tech went toe-to-toe with the Lakers in the final 40 minutes before dropping a 1-4 game Saturday.

The Lakers came out and took control with a pair of first-period goals and a 16-9 shot advantage in the first period. Something transformed the Warriors after that as they out-shot Grand Valley 17-14 in the final two periods. Perhaps it was the flow of the game that went penalty-free- something relatively unheard of, or perhaps it was the energy generated from some of the ACHA D3 Tech team call-ups seeing action at the D1-level.

One player seeing his first action with the D1 team made the best of his opportunity and scored the lone Tech goal. Nick Denice fought through a pair of defenders before going one-on-one with Grand Valley's goaltender and depositing the puck in the back of the net.

None of the players from the Tech D3 squad looked out of place and several were impressive. Seeing action from the Tech D3 team in addition to Denice was Connor Barney, Ryan Theisen and Chad Swartz. Denice's tally brought Tech within a pair of goals and had the teams playing dead-even for the final two periods until the Lakers added a late marker in the game's final 30 seconds.

John Slavik registered 31 saves on the day and also recorded an assist on Denice's goal along with Ian Maisonneuve.

The Warriors will take on Western Michigan University on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum to complete play for the 2014 calendar year.

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