Green Knights Pull Away From Lions

From Sports Information Director, November 7, 2014 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College used two late second-period goals to pull away from Finlandia University in a 7-1 win in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at Cornerstone Community Center.

The No. 1-ranked Green Knights (3-0, 3-0 NCHA), who won for the 14th consecutive game, held a 2-1 lead late in the second period. Chris Rial finished off a 2-on-1 breakaway with Mason Baptista at 19:11 for a 3-1 lead, and Kyle Lee tallied his first collegiate goal with 8 seconds left in the period by forcing a turnover near the Finlandia goal for a 4-1 edge.

St. Norbert cruised from there, getting three goals early in the third period. Pijus Rulevicius scored at 3:23 of the frame, while Ross Pavek tallied a power-play marker at 6:32. Mitch Amatto scored just 23 seconds later for the game's final goal.

St. Norbert took a 1-0 lead at 12:42 of the first period when Tanner Froese scored off a face-off win by Cullen Bradshaw. Finlandia tied the game on an unassisted goal by Scott Vargas at 18:34.

The Green Knights wouldn't take the lead until 12:41 of the second. Baptista and Sam Dougherty led a rush up the ice, and Rial finished a rebound for the eventual game-winning goal.

The goals by Froese, Lee and Amatto were all their first collegiate markers. Baptista had two assists, while Rulevicius and Lee had assists to give them multi-point games.

St. Norbert outshot Finlandia 40-16, including 12-3 in the third period. St. Norbert was 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Lions were 0-for-1. The game featured just four minor penalties.

David Jacobson made 15 saves for the Green Knights. Andrew Brownlee made 29 saves for the Lions in the first 46:32 of the game, while Walker Enstad made four stops in the last 13:28.