FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's ice hockey team opened up its 2017-18 season with a 6-3 win over ACHA Division 1 foe and No. 18-ranked Midland on Friday evening at the SportONE/Parkview Ice House.
 
"Special teams were a big key today," head coach Frank DiCristofaro said. "I think we executed what we needed to execute. (Zach) Larson was also solid in goal which gave our defense confidence to transition quickly and join the rush."
 
Opening up Homecoming Weekend in front of a packed house, the Warriors dressed in orange and black would outshoot the Warriors in blue and orange, 47-34, while never trailing in the 13^th meeting between the two four-year programs.
 
Brain Skillicorn put Tech on the board at 6:19 in the first as he slipped one past Midland goalie Dakota McDonald. The visitors would tie the game up at 19:10 in the period with a power play goal but the hosts would respond with just 14 seconds left in the opening period as Jarrett Pfeiffer lit the lamp with the 56^th goal of his career.
 
The second period would follow a similar trend as the first as Zach Bennett notched the first goal of his career on the power play at 5:11, but Midland's Ben Henry would respond with a man-advantage goal of his own at 16:40. Tech would close out the period strong again however as Jace Childs gave the Orange and Black the momentum back by scoring with just 33 seconds left in the period to give Tech a 4-2 lead heading into the third.
 
The Warriors appeared to put the game away at 8:15 in the third as Adam Jonak made it a 5-2 game, but the visitors would respond just 19 seconds later to cut the deficit back to two goals. Tech would take advantage of eight Midland penalties in the final five minutes though, with Skillicorn notching his second of the game with just seven seconds left on the clock to close out the game.
 
Zach Larson made 31 saves in net to pick up the win while Stavros Soilis netted three assists. 11 different Warriors would tally a point in the win and Mike Tish won a team-high 16 face-offs.
 
Tech (1-0-0) closes out its opening weekend against Midland on Saturday afternoon. Puck drop is set for 5:30 p.m. from the SportONE/Parkview Ice House.