FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's hockey team defeated the No. 24 ranked Lawrence Tech Blue Devils in a two-game series sweep this weekend.
On Friday, the No. 12 ranked Warriors would play the Blue Devils on the road in Farmington Hills, Michigan where they would take the contest in a close one, 3-2.
Francesco Santaniello would get things started early in the first for Tech with a goal at the 15:53 mark. After Lawrence Tech answered just over three minutes later to tie, Tech's
Malik Ali would find the back of the net with 2:04 to go in the period to put Tech back in front. In the second period, things would start to get physical as there were four penalties in the period, however both sides failed to score on the powerplay in the game. Lawrence Tech would get a goal midway through the second period to tie the score at two and it would remain that way into the third.
Colton Nikiforuk would score the game winner for the Warriors with 9:46 remaining on the clock, with an assist from
Aidan Dufort, his second assist of the game.
Avery Smith and
Bobby Hathcock would also tally assist in the Warriors 3-2 win. Goaltender,
Braedyn Funke would make 16 saves for The Orange & Black, earning his fourth win on the season.
In game two of the series, on Saturday, the Warriors would host the Blue Devils at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, home of the Fort Wayne Komets. On the big stage, the visitors of Lawrence Tech would strike first just over six minutes into the game, catching the Warriors by surprise early. Tech would trail 1-0 at the first intermission as both teams would have to get used to playing in a new venue. In the second period, the Warriors would settle in and start to take over the game, capitalizing on two Lawrence Tech penalties in the period.
Malik Ali would snipe one top shelf 13:31 into the period and
Francesco Santaniello would find the back of the net with 1:57 to go in the period, both on the powerplay, giving Tech a 2-1 lead heading into the final period of play. Santaniello would bag his second of the evening just over five minutes into the third to give the Warriors a two-goal cushion. The Blue Devils were outmatched over the final two periods of play and could not keep up with the Warriors as Tech would hold their 3-1 lead through to the final horn.
Wil Campbell (2),
Avery Smith,
Aidan Dufort,
Isaiah Gagerman, and
Pavel Svoboda would all chip in with assists in the game, while
Ty Barnhill would earn his fifth win on the year, making 21 saves in net.
Indiana Tech improves to 9-2-0 on the season and 6-0-0 in the WHAC, as they have now won nine straight games after starting 0-2. The Orange & Black will face off with Concordia University in their series with a home game on Friday, November 3
rd at 7:30pm and an away game on Saturday, November 4
th at 5:50 pm in Canton, Michigan.
- TECH -
