Hockey splits against University of Indiana

Forward Ben Clemence skates through an opening. Vanguard Photo | Brooke Elward

Saginaw Valley club hockey played Indiana twice this weekend, winning 4-3 on Friday, Nov. 8, in overtime and losing 3-1 on Saturday, Nov. 9, in regulation.

Near the end of the Nov. 8 game, Cardinal goalie down inside the net. This resulted in a line brawl between the teams.

On Nov. 9, with 7:24 left in the period, Indiana No. 12 Nick Christensen received a major penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Christensen clashed with SVSU No. 20 Kyle Kubiak away from the play. Kubiak knocked Christensen down in retaliation before the whistle.

The first period largely saw defensive play from both teams, with the Cardinals maintaining puck control for the majority of the period.

Impressive shot on goal attempts late in the period by SVSU No. 9 Brendan Baker and Indiana No. 27 Sam Markwood were unsuccessful. The first period ended with no score.

The second period began with a revitalized Indiana offense. Indiana kept the puck in front of the Cardinal blue line for the first three minutes of the second period.

Five minutes into the second period, Indiana No. 4 Ike Herendeen was injured during a play and appeared dazed. He was escorted off the ice and brought to a trainer for medical attention.

Indiana No. 2 Ryan Haraldsen and SVSU No. 8 Christian Blasch traded minor penalties for tripping after a scuffle to the ground that forced a ref to pull them apart.

During the four-on-four following the traded penalties, Indiana No. 5 Austin Roell scored the first goal of the game. Another Indiana penalty by No. 14 Brendon Block gave Cardinals a four-on-three advantage, but the team was unable to score during the power play.

Both teams traded puck control and power play advantage until an Indiana goal by No. 71 Devan MacKellar with 3:45 left in the second period. Other than a slashing penalty by SVSU No. 21 Aaron Shahin, the period concluded without further incident.

SVSU captain No. 19 Steven Kukla kicked off the third period with a breakaway wrist shot goal attempt from wide on the blue line, but Indiana Goaltender No. 30 Connor Minnick was able to save.

An Indiana penalty for slashing by No. 11 Sam Huettl gave the Cardinals enough of an advantage for SVSU No. 5 Corey Churchill to score a goal.

The rest of the third period saw more penalties from both teams, including high-sticking, slashing and interference from Indiana and a high-sticking penalty for SVSU.

Hoping to even the score, the Cardinals pulled their goalie with 30 seconds left in regulation. However, Indiana No. 27 Sam Markwood was able to take advantage of the empty net and score. At the end of regulation, the Cardinals fell to Indiana, 3-1.

Head coach Brendan Ryan said the team was looking to improve their playing in order to increase their ranking.

“When starting this weekend, we were not happy with our current ranking position, and we had to do something about it,” Ryan said. “Our goal … was to take at least one game, if not both. We battled from behind both games, but Friday we really had the fire scoring three unanswered goals to win the game in overtime.”

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