FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 23 Indiana Tech ACHA Division 1 men's ice hockey team starts a three-game road trip this week as they head to Bloomington, Illinois for a rematch with Illinois State, Tech's first opponent of the year.
#23 Indiana Tech (15-11-1-1, 32 points) (Win-Loss-Overtime Loss-Shootout Loss) Friday, Jan. 22, 10:10 p.m. at Illinois State (10-14-2-2, 24 points) Bloomington, Illinois (Pepsi Ice Center)Saturday, Jan. 23, 2 p.m. at Illinois State (10-14-2-2, 24 points) Bloomington, Illinois (U.S. Cellular Coliseum) Following the Warriors: Full game recaps will be posted to IndianaTechWarriors.com following each game. You can also follow @INTechICE_D1 and @INTechWarriors on Twitter to keep up with the action.
Last Time Out: The Orange and Black swept ACHA Division II Ferris State last weekend at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, blanking the Bulldogs 10-0 on Friday and overcoming an early 1-0 deficit on Saturday to win 7-2.
Jace Childs led Tech with eight points over the weekend and recorded a hat trick on Friday, while
Jarrett Pfeiffer notched a hat trick in the third period of Saturday's game.
Adam Jonak and
Zack Morlock each added two goals on Friday.
John Slavik picked up his first career shutout on Friday while making 50 saves over the two games.
Head Coach Frank DiCristofaro: The first head coach in program history,
Frank DiCristofaro enters his second season as Head Ice Hockey coach at Indiana Tech. In his first season at the helm, he guided the Warriors to an 8-25-0-1 record while playing one of the toughest schedules in the ACHA. The program's first win came against then-14
th ranked Oakland University Golden Grizzlies on Sept. 27, 2014. Under DiCristofaro's watch, the Warrior hockey program was able to gain entry to the highly-respected Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL). The league boasts annual powerhouses Adrian, Davenport and Oakland and as a member of one of the deepest and most talented leagues in the ACHA, the Warriors are tested by the best on a weekly basis.
Scouting the Opposition: Illinois State – The Redbirds swept Mercyhurst last weekend, 6-5 and 7-2, respectively, as they snapped a two-game losing skid. Parker Johnson leads the team in goals (17), assists (27) and points (44). Tim Talty and Joey Bower also have double-digit goals with 15 and 10, respectively, and are second and third in points with 33 and 31. David Krienke has appeared in net 14 times this season for ISU, stopping 431 shots for a .887 save percentage and 3.94 goals against average (GAA) in 838 minutes.
Series Notes: Illinois State – Tech is 1-1 all-time against the Redbirds, with their first meeting coming back on Sept. 18-19 to open their second season. The Warriors lost a thrilling 8-7 game in their season opener before rallying back with a 5-4 victory the next day.
Jace Childs and
Ryan Theisen each had three goals apiece while
Joe Molfetta had two.
Into the Rankings: For the first time in program history, the Warriors found themselves ranked in the ACHA Top 25 Poll, entering the rankings at number 23 on Jan. 14. Tech stayed at 23 for the second week in a row in the latest edition of the poll (Jan. 20).
Sweeping it Up: Tech has swept four different opponents so far this season (minimum two games) after not recording a sweep in their inaugural season. The Warriors have dispatched Eastern Michigan (Oct. 9-10), Canisius (Oct. 23, 25), Kent State (Nov. 13-14) and Ferris State (Jan. 15-16). In those eight games, the Orange and Black have scored 52 goals while only allowing 14 and have recorded two shutouts in those games.
Keeping Up with the Best of Them: Jace Childs and
Jarrett Pfeiffer have supplied the Warriors with plenty of offense this season and they find themselves among the best in the ACHA. Childs leads the Orange and Black in points (51), goals (22) and assists (29). The Savage, Minnesota winger is fourth in the ACHA in points while he is tied for fifth in assists and tied for sixth in goals. Pfeiffer is second on the team in all three categories (41, 18, 23) and is tied for 11
th in points, tied for 16
th in assists and tied for 18
th in goals.
Not to be Forgotten: Just behind Childs the Pfeiffer is the trio of
Adam Jonak,
Ryan Theisen and
Joe Molfetta, who each have double-digit goals and over 25 points. Jonak is third on the team in goals (14) while Theisen has 13 goals and 20 assists. Molfetta is just as dangerous with 10 goals to his credit.
Special Teams Aces: Six different Warriors have scored multiple goals on the power play, giving head coach
Frank DiCristofaro lots of options with a man advantage.
Jace Childs and
Zack Morlock have each racked up six power play goals apiece, while
Jarrett Pfeiffer has five goals with Tech up a man. Four of
Quentin Holmes' goals have come via the power play while
Joe Molfetta has two.
Protecting the Net: Goaltenders
Zach Larson.
John Slavik and Chet Took have all been strong in the net when called upon by DiCristofaro. Larson has accumulated the most time in the crease this season, logging nearly 832 minutes of ice time while recording two shutouts stopping 90.6% of the shots he's faced. All three goalies have given up less than four goals a game on average, with Larson leading the way at 3.17. Slavik has a shutout, a 3.50 GAA and a save percentage of .889 save percentage in 309 minutes while Tooker has made 227 saves in 549 minutes.
Holiday Winnings: The Orange and Black went 3-0 over Thanksgiving weekend to claim their first tournament title in program history as they won the Michigan-Dearborn Great Lakes Showcase. Tech defeated ACHA Division 3 Michigan State and Central Michigan, 10-0, and 4-2, respectively, before taking down the host Wolverines in overtime in the championship game, 3-2.
More Firsts: The Warriors 3-2 overtime win over Michigan-Dearborn was the first victory over the Wolverines in program history and their fourth win over a ranked opponent. The two teams will meet on Jan. 29-30 in a home-and-home set, with Tech traveling to Dearborn on the 29 before hosting the Maize and Blue on the 30.
Away from Home: Tech hasn't played at the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse since Dec. 14 when the Warriors hosted then-ninth ranked Davenport. Since then the Orange and Black have played in Grand Rapids, Michigan (Davenport), Bensenville, Illinois (Robert Morris) and Fremont, Nebraska (Midland) while hosting Ferris State across town at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum last weekend. The Warriors still have three more games on the road trip, this weekend at Illinois State and will play at Michigan-Dearborn on Jan. 29 before hosting the Wolverines the next day at SportONE/Parkview Icehouse.
Diverse Ice: Tech is loaded with players from all across the country as well as all over the globe. The Warriors feature players from 10 different states and four countries. Michigan tops the list with seven athletes, while three Warriors hail from the Hoosier State. Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Canada are all represented with two players while California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, the Czech Republic and Scotland each have one.
No Easy Skating: As the Orange and Black embark on its first season as a member of the GLCHL, they will be tested night-in and night-out against one of the toughest and deepest conferences in the AHCA. Six of the nine GLCHL teams are ranked along with Tech: Davenport (fourth), Adrian (sixth), Michigan-Dearborn (11
th), Western Michigan (16
th) and Rochester (20
th) are all ranked in the latest ACHA Top 25 Poll. Oakland was ranked 25
th when the two teams battled back on Oct. 16-17.
Crowded Ice: The GLCHL has the second most teams ranked out of any conference and is also second in terms of percentage of teams ranked (66.7%) The Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) and Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL) have all five and seven of their members ranked, respectively.
Team Effort: Over 86% of the Tech roster (19 out of 22, excluding goalies) has recorded at least one point through 20 games this season, while 17 different Warriors have scored at least one goal and 17 different players have notched at least one assist.
