Fort Wayne, Ind. / Howell, Mich. — Indiana Tech earned a weekend split against Cleary (MI), falling 4–3 on Friday night in Fort Wayne before bouncing back with a 6–5 victory on Saturday at the 140 Ice Den. Malik Ali became Tech's all-time leading point scorer with his goal in Saturday night's win!

Game One Indiana Tech jumped out to an early lead on Friday night, but Cleary used a three-goal second period to edge the Warriors 4–3. JP Scaringi opened the scoring at 8:58 of the first period, and Joey Mocnik restored the Warriors' lead late in the frame to make it 2–1 after one. The teams traded goals early in the second period, with Isaiah Gagerman netting an unassisted goal to put Indiana Tech ahead 3–2. Cleary responded with back-to-back goals midway through the second period, including the eventual game-winner at 15:17, to take a 4–3 lead. Despite multiple power-play opportunities in the third period, Indiana Tech was unable to find the equalizer.

In game two the Warriors answered on Saturday night with a high-scoring 6–5 win in Howell, featuring six different goal scorers. Indiana Tech scored three goals in the first period, highlighted by Malik Ali's with 5:45 remaining in the period, making him Tech's all-time leading point scorer at 195! The Warriors matched Cleary stride for stride in the second with three goals apiece. Ian Vannelli's power-play goal tied the game at four before Isaiah Gagerman gave the Warriors the lead once again. After Cleary evened the score, Francesco Santaniello scored just 25 seconds later to seal the victory. Indiana Tech went 1-for-1 on the power play in game two and successfully killed all three Cleary power plays, holding strong defensively in the third period to secure the win.

With the split, Indiana Tech moves to 11-7-4 overall and 10-1-3 in conference play, while Cleary sits at 15-3-4 overall and 9-3-2 in conference action. The Warriors will play Michigan-Dearborn in their next series on January 23rd and 24th.
 

-TECH-