FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 1 men's ice hockey team defeated Illinois State, 5-4, on Saturday evening for their first victory of the season at the SportONE/Parkview Ice House.
 
The Warriors offense was clicking in the first 20 minutes as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Redbirds. Junior forward Alex Gregorich started the scoring early as he beat David Kreinke a minute and 57 seconds into the game. Freshman Ryan Attwood notched his first career goal at 8:10 while sophomore Ryan Theisen put the Warriors ahead 3-0 with just under three minutes to go in the period.
 
Theisen would add his second goal of the night just 19 seconds into the second period to give the Warriors a 4-0 lead. The Redbirds would get one the board 10 minutes later and then rattled off three goals in a two minute and 40 second span in the third period thanks to a couple of Tech penalties to tie things up at four.
 
Following a timeout by head coach Frank DiCristofaro, the Orange and Black would regroup to play better down the stretch and redshirt freshman Jace Childs would give the hosts their first win of the year as he beat the Redbirds netminder at the 5:23 mark.
 
Jarrett Pfeiffer added two assists and John Slavik picked up the win for the Warriors.
 
Tech (1-1-0) travels to Kalamazoo, Michigan on Sept. 29 to battle with Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL) opponent Western Michigan in their first-ever conference game. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.