FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's hockey team faced off against Aquinas College over the weekend in a two-game series in which the Warriors were the superior team, winning 5-2 on Friday evening on the road and 9-1 on Saturday when Tech returned to their home ice. The Warriors move to 7-2-0 on the season and remain perfect in conference play at 4-0-0.
 
On Friday, the game was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the Orange and Black opened the scoring with a goal from Joey Mocnik, assisted by Aidan Dufort and Brandon Plummer. Mocnik's goal would be the lone goal in the first period as the Warriors entered the first intermission up 1-0. Coming out of the break, Tech widened their margin, finding the net 2 more times in the second from Avery Smith and TJ Dougan off assists from Malik Ali and Colton Nikiforuk on the first goal and Pavel Svaboda on the second. Avery Smith doubled his tally for the night to open the third period, assisted by Nikiforuk and Ali. Aquinas slipped two past Funke in the net to narrow the Warrior's lead. Smith put the game to rest as he completed the hat trick on an unassisted goal. Braedyn Funke played the whole game in the net for Tech, saving 33.
 
On Saturday, back on their home ice, the Warriors took a big lead early as they netted 5 first-period goals. Scoring for Tech in the first were Francesco Santaniello with 2 goals, Malik Ali, Colton Nikiforuk, and Luke Anderson. Assisting goals in the first period were Pavel Svaboda, Conner Funke, Avery Smith (2), Malik Ali, Aidan Dufort, TJ Dougan (2), Wil Campbell, and Isaiah Gagerman. The Saints held Tech scoreless in the second period while finding the net once themselves. Going into the third period leading 5-1, the Warriors would score 4 more on their way to a 9-1 win. Scoring in the final period were Malik Ali, Aidan Dufort, Avery Smith, and Joey Mocnik. Assists for the Warriors came from Avery Smith, Colton Nikiforuk, Alex Carrothers, TJ Dougan, Martin Rudolf, and Mason Bazaluk.
 
The Warriors are back in action on Friday evening as they open their two-game series on the road with Lawrence Tech at 8:00 p.m. On Saturday, they finish the series with the Blue Devils at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, with the game starting at 2:00 p.m.