This past weekend did not reflect Lawrence University’s men’s hockey team’s start of the season as much as they had anticipated. Starting on a high, Lawrence could not keep the momentum from taking a break with their next back-to-back games. With the start of their conference play, Lawrence fell to both Adrian College and Trine University, seven to nil and five to one, respectively. With this being said, it is still the beginning of the season and the team still has many opportunities to advance in their conference play.
These matches proved to be difficult for Lawrence, but that can be understood from looking at the game stats. Adrian College is ranked second in the conference which indicates that it would be a tougher match than their first against junior team Soo Thunderbirds, where they were able to have 60 shots on goal and win in overtime. Despite the tough match, Lawrence was able to progress through the game on Friday night and prevent Adrian from scoring three times in the third period after it had happened in both the first and second period. Lawrence was able to prevent Adrian from scoring three times on their five powerplays and both of the goalies, junior Evan Cline and senior Greg Procopio, made at least 20 saves each. Unfortunately, Lawrence was unable to get off many shots against Adrian, which was a main factor in their loss.
Against Trine University, Lawrence had a better start than the game that had just happened the night before. With five minutes left to go in the first period, freshman Vincent Dekumbis scored Lawrence’s only goal of the game to give them the lead over Trine. After that, Trine managed to score once in the second period and three times in the third. Cline was able to stop 47 shots from Trine, which is a feat on its own in such an even match in the conference. Overall, on the records Lawrence had a better match against Trine than Adrian’s team. It was more evenly matched in terms of face-offs and the ability to prevent power plays, yet Lawrence still lacked in their shots on goal. Whether this is due to the lack of possession or missed opportunities, the Lawrence hockey team will surely progress as the season moves on towards their intensive winter break schedule.
Lawrence University men’s hockey team is hosting two games this weekend. On Friday they will host Aurora University at 7 p.m. at the Appleton Family Ice Center. The team will also host Lake Forest College on Saturday at 4 p.m. Both will be in-conference games that will be counted toward their standings. After both of these games, the team will be headed into their intensive winter training that will promote improvement within the ranks of the team, but also individually.
