CKSR (Calvin Hockey Falls in National Semis to Aquinas)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 12, 2016

Calvin Hockey Falls in National Semis to Aquinas

HOCKEY
Aquinas 6, Calvin 1

The Calvin men's hockey season came to a close Friday night as the Knights fell 6-1 to Aquinas College in the semifinals of the 2016 ACHA DIII national tournament.

The semifinal game showcased two West Michigan teams from the MCHC and served as the fourth matchup this year between the Knights and Saints, with Aquinas leading the season series two games to one. On February 5, Calvin defeated Aquinas 4-1 to claim the MCHC title. In the following game, Aquinas earned a 4-2 victory over the Knights and on February 26th, in the MCHC tournament semifinals, the Saints overpowered the Knights for a 5-3 win.

Calvin and Aquinas both went 3-0 in pool play of the national tournament to earn spots in the semifinal. The Knights defeated Kennesaw State University (6-0), Mckendree University (3-1) and held off a four-goal third period comeback by Bryn Athyn College on Thursday night, winning 5-4 to advance. The Saints claimed their semifinal spot by taking down University of Tampa (4-2), Colorado State University (6-1) and, lastly, Fairfield University (3-2).

In Friday night's game, the Knights struggled to get their offense going early, while Aquinas took a 3-0 lead in the first period.

4:19 into the game, Aquinas' Corey Giffel scored to put the Saints on the board first. At the 13:58 mark, Nathan Aloisio put one past Calvin goalkeeper Alex Gross to put the Saints up 2-0. Less than two minutes later, with 4:55 remaining in the first period, Matt Krzykwa scored off a rebound for Aquinas' third goal of the period.

Despite some second period scoring chances by the Knights, neither team would find the back of the net and Aquinas headed into the third period still possessing a 3-0 lead.

Calvin finally capitalized in the third period, scoring a powerplay goal at the 5:34 mark, when Cameron Bell put a shot on net and Jordan Duncan was there to finish off the rebound.

However, this would be Calvin's only goal of the game and Aquinas would go on to score three more goals before time expired.

8:35 into the third period, Aquinas' Calvin Wojtaszak made a move across the crease and put the puck in the back of the net to earn back his team's three-goal advantage.

With 7:26 left to play in the semifinal game, Doug Zelenka scored Aquinas' fifth goal, sneaking one past a diving Alex Gross.

The Knights had a powerplay chance with 2:51 remaining, playing with a two-man advantage after pulling their goalie. However they came up empty-handed, while the Saints scored a short-handed, empty net goal with just over a minute left on the clock.

Both teams recorded 42 shots on goal. Calvin goalie Alex Gross made 36 saves in the loss.

The Knights finished the season with an overall record of 24-8-1.

"We got off to a slow start," said Calvin head coach Mike Petrusma. "I don't know if it was the game before that took a lot out of us or what, but we have to give Aquinas all the credit for coming out and playing hard in the first period to establish a lead that proved to be too difficult for us to overcome."

The Knights will lose two seniors next season. "Charles Kingston and John Conz have been great captains for us this year and we will miss them next year," said Petrusma.

"The last three years we've been progressing in how far we've been advancing in the ACHA Tournament and this was another step," said Petrusma. "Winning the pool by defeating Bryn Athyn, a team that everyone expected to be in the championship game - that's a stepping stone for us. We haven't fully arrived. Now there's definitely a carrot dangling in front of this group for next season, so we'll lick our wounds, give the boys a few weeks off and then we'll start refocusing on our offseason training. We have a real strong vision for next year."
Received on Sat Mar 12 08:16:38 2016