This past Friday and Saturday, the Purdue Northwest D2 hockey team faced off against #4 Schoolcraft College in a two-game series. Despite a strong effort, the Pride came up short in both matchups, narrowly losing game one 4-3 and falling 3-1 in game two.
The Basics

• Records: Purdue Northwest (10-4), Schoolcraft (12-2)
• Location: Livonia, Michigan/Hammond, Indiana
• Two Game Series

Game One
Inside the Numbers

• JT Verdino (Rutherford, N.J./) and Alex Moon (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte) each recorded one assist for Purdue Northwest, contributing to the team's playmaking efforts.
• Sean Curtin (Chicago, Ill./) scored the lone goal for Purdue Northwest
• John Hughes (Noblesville, Ind.) played for 57 minutes and 16 seconds in goal for Purdue Northwest, making 27 saves on 29 shots.
• Schoolcraft College's offense was led by Andrew Elliott with two goals, while Kyle Janis contributed one goal.
• Lane Schroeder was in goal for Schoolcraft, playing the full 60 minutes and making 22 saves on 23 shots.

 
 The Breakdown

• The first period saw Schoolcraft College's Andrew Evans opened the scoring at 10:00, assisted by Landen Brudt. 
• In the second period, Matt Krzyzak scored for Schoolcraft College at 9:05, with assists from Joseph Sines and Jerome Pegrum. Shortly after, Lj Sabala extended the lead with a goal at 11:46, assisted by Maxim Siratskiy and Jerome Pegrum. The Pride responded with a power-play goal from Jacob Behnke (South Elgin, Ill.) at 15:48, unassisted. 
• Schoolcraft College regained control in the third period with a short-handed game-winning goal from Andrew Elliott at 12:35. The Pride continued to battle, as Jordan DeGouw () scored at 18:49, assisted by Jt Verdino.  However, the comeback would come up short.

Game Two
Inside the Numbers

• Savva Verbetskii (Ekaterinburg, Russia/) led the Pride offense with two goals.
• Zach Cestero (Estero, Fla.), Jacob Behnke (South Elgin, Ill.), Sam Snider (St. John, Ind.), Gabriel Santamaria (Guernsey, United Kingdom), and Blake Witkowski (Thompson, Conn.) each scored a goal for The Pride.
• Sam Snider (St. John, Ind.) also tallied two assists, while Jt Verdino, Dominic Suhr (Las Vegas, Nev.), Nate Cheney (St. Michael, Minn.), Owen Ott (La Porte, Ind.), Sean Curtin (Chicago, Ill./), and Adam Napravnik contributed assists to the team's efforts.
• The Pride's goaltender Rico Struckhoff (St. Louis, Mo./Christian Brothers College) made 22 saves on 27 shots during the game.
• Aurora goaltender Ryan Diaz faced relentless pressure, playing all 60 minutes and making 50 saves on 56 shots.

The Breakdown
 

• The First period saw zero scoring from either side.
• In the second period, Kyle Janis scored on a power play for Schoolcraft College at 8:49, assisted by Joshua Boze and Dustin Fretter.
• In the third period, Sean Curtin (Chicago, Ill./) scored for Purdue University Northwest at 0:30, with assists from Alex Moon (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte) and Jt Verdino. Schoolcraft College quickly regained the lead when Andrew Elliott scored the game-winning goal at 4:19, unassisted. At 17:16, Purdue University Northwest pulled their goalie, John Hughes (Noblesville, Ind.), for the extra attacker.
• In the final moments, Andrew Elliott sealed the victory with an empty-net insurance goal at 19:14, assisted by Dustin Fretter.

Up Next
The D2 hockey team hits the ice again on November 22, in Hammond, Indiana against
University of Cincinnati. The game time is set for 7:00 PM.