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GENEVA, Ill. – St. Norbert College bounced back against Aurora University to gain a key series split with a 5-3 win in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at Fox Valley Ice Arena.
The Green Knights (7-2, 5-1 NCHA), ranked No. 3 in the USCHO.com Division III Poll, moved into first place in the NCHA standings with 15 points, with two points separating first though fifth place. Aurora (7-1, 5-1), ranked No. 2 by USCHO.com, suffered its first loss of the season. The game was marred by 18 penalties, resulting in just 34 minutes 18 seconds of 5-on-5 time.
The power play clocked early for St. Norbert, leading to a 2-0 lead after the first period. Calvin Hanson’s wrister from the high slot was true at 5:57, while T.J. Koufis finished a drive from just inside the blue line at 15:39.
St. Norbert pulled away in the second period with a trio of goals. Mark Snarr’s blast from the high slot hit the end boards and caromed back to rebound off Aurora goaltender Matt O’Donnell’s back and in for a 3-0 lad at 8:58. The Spartans were slapped with a pair of minor penalties just moments later, with the Green Knights capitalizing on Dayton Deics’ (pictured) 5-on-3 power-play goal at 9:25. Ryan Gingher then forced a turnover and skated in on a breakaway for his first collegiate goal, scoring at 17:25.
Aurora would push back in the third period, getting power-play goals at 6:17 from Simon Diaz and 8:51 from Jakson Kirk. Roc Truman brought the Spartans to within 5-3 at 15:12, but they would get no closer.
Deics finished with one goal and one assist for two points, while Logan Dombrowsky had two assists for two points.
St. Norbert outshot Aurora 32-31, incuding 15-3 in the first period. Hunter Garvey made 28 saves for the Green Knights, while O’Donnell had 15 stops in 31:03 and Bodee Weiss 12 saves in 28:57.
The Green Knights were 3-for-10 on the power play, while Aurora was 2-for-7.
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DE PERE – St. Norbert College defeated Aurora University 7-2 to secure their second Northern Collegiate Hockey Association series sweep of the season at Resch Olympic Pavilion. With this victory, head coach A.J. Aitken earned his 100th career win.
The Green Knights (6-2, 5-1 NCHA) came into the contest ranked No. 8 in the USCHO.com Division III poll. St. Norbert jumped out to a 2-0 lead just under five minutes into the game, when Hannah Grabianowski (pictured) and Taylor Lesnar scored back-to-back goals at 4:44 and 4:55, respectively. Aurora responded with a goal from Samira Schmidt at 15:23.
The Green Knights wasted no time grabbing its third goal of the game with Grace Wittkopf’s effort at 15:45. The offensive dominance continued when Ava Anick netted a goal at 17:14 from Claire Healy and Grabianowski to end the first period with a convincing 4-1 lead.
The second period started with a back-and-forth battle until Jo Mahlum buried a shot at 12:54. Allison Jacobsen also found the net at 16:13 to extend St. Norbert’s lead to 6-1 going into the third period.
Samira Schmidt scored her second goal for the Spartans at 14:56, but the Green Knights would convert on one more attempt from Claire Healy at 18:32 to seal the 7-2 victory.
The Green Knights outshot the Spartans 40-25 and converted on both power play attempts. Aurora went 1-5 on the power play. Tanith Plachetka recorded 23 saves for St. Norbert, while Zoie Campbell and Macy Blooming split time in goal for Aurora, totaling 33 saves.
Grabianowski, Emma Stebbeds, and Abby Pieper each ended the game with three points, while Healy and Annalee Holzer each chipped in two points.
By St. Norbert Communications
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