Hockey Drops Two to Aquinas

(Howell, MI)-- The Aquinas College Saints picked up a pair of wins over the Cleary Cougars hockey team this weekend, thanks in large part to their effectiveness on the power play, as they won 3-0 on Friday night at 140 Ice Den, and 9-3 on Saturday in Byron Center.

In Game 1:  Aquinas would get on the board halfway through the opening period to take a 1-0 lead, and after no goals the rest of the opening stanza or the 2nd period, it would still be a 1-0 game going into the final 20 minutes.  A 4-minute penalty against Cleary would be their downfall, as the Saints scored 2 goals on the concurrent power play to solidify a 3-0 win for the visitors.  
Koby Kebbe made 33 saves on 36 shots.  Wes Smith led the Cougars with 5 shots on goal, while Ben Gledhow added 4 shots on goal, and Joe Heinzelman posted 3 shots on goal.

In Game 2:  Aquinas would once again score first in the opening period, this time at the 5 minute mark, but the game would open up in the second period when Aquinas added 4 more goals, 2 shorthanded, to take a 5-0 lead before Cleary could get on the board with a power play goal from Colby Krupp, assisted by Wes Smith and Cam Thomas.
Aquinas would get a power play goal of their own and took a 6-1 lead into the final period.  Aquinas would add another first, but Julian Chau scored his first goal of the season, with assists from Jonny Gardiner and Alessandro Nicastro.  After Aquinas answered the Cougar goal, Zach Eakes scored with assists from Ben Gledhow and Joe Heinzelman.  Aquinas would add a late goal to secure the 9-3 victory.

Liam Kocur made 41 saves on 47 shots in his 40 minutes of action, and Tyler Krasofsky made 12 saves on 15 shots for the Cougars. 

Cleary drops to 1-5, 0-4 in WHAC play.  The Cougars will be in action this weekend they take on the Concordia Cardinals in a weekend series.  Friday's 5:00 pm game at 140 Ice Den will also be a Pink Out, so fans in attendance should weark pink to support our efforts to fight breast cancer.