Men's Varsity Thumps the Thunder
The Men's NCAA team took on the Trine Thunder for the first time ever this past weekend in the Men's NCAA team's first ever home at home weekend series.
The Bulldogs travelled to Angola, Indiana on Friday night to take on the Thunder at Thunder Ice Arena.
Austin Rust started things off for the Bulldogs at the 2:18 mark of the first period on the road. Nick Erb would grab the lone assist on Rust's opening tally. Trine would tie things up 6 minutes later before Bryan Yim would give the visiting team the lead once again on the powerplay at the 19:05 mark of the first period. Connor Armour and Kyle Brothers would each be awarded assists on the powerplay goal. After one, your Bulldogs lead the Thunder 2-1.
Taylor McCloy netted his 6th of the season at the 14:43 mark of the middle frame to give the visitors a more comfortable two goal lead. Brothers and Cory Dunn would be awarded assists on McCloy's goal. Captain Mat Thompson would grab a powerplay goal with seconds to play in the second to give the Bulldogs the 3-1 lead to take in the third and final period. McCloy and Brothers would each assist on Thompson's goal.
Cameron Cooper wasted no time in the third period, netting his first of the season at the 0:42 mark of the final period. Brothers and Matt McNair would assist on Cooper's goal. Trine would snag a shorthanded goal at the 7:15 mark of the third but Rust would answer with his 2nd of the game to put the Bulldogs up by a score of 6-2. Trine would add one more goal in the third but the Bulldogs would best the Thunder 6-3 when the final buzzer sounded. Kevin Entmaa would pick up the win for the Bulldogs in net.
The Bulldogs would host the Thunder the next evening at Arrington Ice Arena to open up the regular season at home.
Taylor McCloy would kick things off for the Bulldogs on Saturday, netting his seventh of the season at the 10:36 mark of the first period. Matt McNair and Kyle Brothers would tally assists. Cameron Cooper's second of the weekend would make it a 2-0 game at the 12:30 mark of the first. Cooper's goal would be unassisted. Trine would net one of their own on a breakaway before the end of the first period but the Bulldogs would hold onto the 2-1 lead going into the second period.
Mat Thompson would give the Bulldogs the 3-1 lead at the 10:20 mark of the second period. Taylor McCloy and Cory Dunn would each notch assists on Thompson's tally. Ryan Cusin would net a powerplay goal at the 15:58 mark of the second to close out the scoring in the second period. Thompson and Braden Hellems would be awarded assists on Thompson's goal. After two, your Bulldogs would have a 4-1 lead over the Thunder.
Joshua Owing's first collegiate goal would make it a 5-1 game at the 2:29 mark of the third period. Vinny Post and Bryan Yim would each be awarded assists. Yim would snag a goal of his own at the 11:28 mark of the third period on a breakaway to put the home team up 6-1 with less than ten minutes to play. McCloy's third of the weekend would come at the 17:52 mark of the third period on the powerplay. Brothers and Thompson would grab assists on McCloy's powerplay goal. Hellems would close out the scoring with 15 seconds to play in the final frame with a goal of his own. Dunn and Connor Armour would each grab assists.
Final score Saturday night would be 8-1 in favor of the Bulldogs with Nikita Babintsev picking up his first win for the Bulldogs in his first collegiate start.
The Bulldogs will travel to Plymouth to play the US Under 18 team on Wednesday night for an exhibition before facing off against the Thunder once again next Saturday, November 25th at 7:05 pm at Arrington Ice Arena.