Lawrence University’s journey ended this weekend in men’s hockey, as St. Norbert’s Green Knights won both tournament games against them. Their first game was very reminiscent of a previous game against the Knights; in under 10 minutes into the first period, Keegan Milligan and Peyton Frantti combined to score three goals for the Knights, and the Vikings simply had no answer. They were outpaced on offense, 17 shots on the goal compared to LU’s six, and their defensive troubles did not let up, as St. Norbert did not go a single period without scoring at least twice. Charles Stewart was able to score once in the second period, but they were outmatched again, 17 shots to 8, and the third period began at 5-1 after a late power play from St. Norbert.
The final period was rounded out with further defensive woes. Though most of the period went scoreless, the Green Knights made a powerful push in the last five minutes. They scored three times in a span of two minutes, with St. Norbert’s Kurt Black rounding out a hat trick on the last two goals. Freshman Tom Yurisich sank a final shot for Lawrence with just over a minute to play, but the effort was in vain, as the previous offensive crushing ended the game 8-2, St. Norbert.
Their second matchup was a bit of a closer game. However, many of the same troubles emerged despite a better defensive showing. Proof of a better game plan on defense was evident in the first period, as the Vikings did not allow a goal on 13 shots. St. Norbert’s Peter Bates broke the tie in the second, but Lawrence answered quickly; the Green Knights only held a lead for 44 seconds before the Vikings’ senior Evan Ketner sank a goal to tie.
13 minutes of defensive struggle ensued, but Lawrence once again fell into an all-too-familiar constant: allowing scores in rapid succession. With two minutes left, Brendan Aird scored for the Green Knights, and his score was quickly followed by Stephen Mather a minute later. Peyton Frantti’s third-period goal proved to be the nail in the coffin, as Lawrence would only score once for the rest of the game; even this score was answered.
St. Norbert toppled Lawrence with a 5-2 game, and a 2-0 stretch to knock the Vikings out of the playoffs.