FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech American Collegiate Hockey League (ACHL) Division 1 men's ice hockey team dropped an exciting season-opener to Illinois State on Friday night in front of a packed Homecoming Weekend crowd, 8-7, at the SportONE/Parkview Ice House.
The offense was clicking for both teams throughout the game, with Tech getting the scoring started first when defenceman
Dominick Manochio lit the lamp for his first collegiate goal at 17:43 in the first period. After the Redbirds tied it up at one with just fewer than four and a half minutes to go in the first, forward
Jace Childs blasted it on past the Illinois State goalie for a 2-1 lead.
The visitors would respond quickly however, notching two goals in the last 1:28, including one right before the horn, to head into the first intermission in front 3-2.
Illinois State would strike quickly again in the second, scoring their fourth goal just a minute and 51 seconds into the period and sending starting goalie
Chet Tooker to the bench in favor of
John Slavik. The Redbirds would score two more goals in the next six minutes to take 6-2 lead.
The Orange and Black would battle back to make it 6-4 heading into the second intermission, as wingers
Brandon Gallo and
Joe Molfetta would add their first goals of the season at 2:50 and 0:28.5, respectively.
The hosts would carry that momentum into the final period as they rattled off three goals in the first 10 minutes of the third. Molfetta scored at 18:16 and gave the Warriors the lead with his hat-trick goal at 10:08, while Childs notched the game-tying goal at 15:25.
The Redbirds would not go down without a fight however, tying the game at 7:27 before Tim Talty found the back of the net for his third goal of the night and the game-winner at 4:41 to give the visitors their first win of the year.
Childs finished the night with two goals and three assists, while Molfetta added an assist to go along with his hat trick. Slavik would take the loss for the Warriors.
Tech (0-1) will battle with the Redbirds (1-2) again on Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and live video streaming will be available at IndianaTechWarriors.com.
