Men’s hockey advances to Harris Cup semifinals

The Lawrence University men’s hockey team swept the opening series of the MCHA playoffs against Concordia University of Wisconsin last weekend and, in doing so, advanced to the Harris Cup semifinals. The Vikings (16-10-1) have already topped the school record for wins in a season, and they continue to build on that total.
In the opening game of the series, Lawrence goalie Evan Johnson shut out the Falcons (4-22-1) and added to his nation-leading total. Johnson now has seven shutouts this year. The Vikings were also held scoreless in the first period, but they turned up the heat in the last two periods, starting with a goal by Matt Hughes midway through the second period.
Josh DeSmit doubled the Lawrence lead later in the period with a goal of his own. The Vikings added two more goals in the third period to put the game away. Nick Jennette scored his 12th goal of the season, and Aaron LaFave scored his first to round out the scoring for the Vikings.
Lawrence needed either a win or a tie in the second game of the series in order to advance to the semifinals of the playoffs, and the Vikings delivered. Nick Jennette set both school and NCAA records in the victory, and Evan Johnson also broke a school record.
In the opening period, Jennette assisted Marc Howe on the first goal of the game and, with the assist, carded 100 points for his career. He then scored a goal of his own just seconds into the second period, and added an empty-netter with just two seconds remaining to put the game away and tie the school record for goals in a career with 48.
With two goals and an assist in the game, Jennette now has 102 points in his career, just one behind the school record held by Lawrence great Ryan Blick. This was also the 110th consecutive game that Jennette has played in, which breaks the NCAA record previously held by Garrett Strot of Bethel University in Minnesota.
Johnson made 19 saves and earned the victory, his 13th of the season, a new school record. Johnson was previously in a tie for the lead with Andrew Isaac. The final score of the game was 5-3, and the Vikings have a chance to continue their record-breaking season this weekend. The Harris Cup Semifinals are held at Adrian College, and the Vikings are facing MSOE Saturday while Adrian faces Marian in the other semifinal.