Last weekend, the Purdue Northwest D2 Hockey Team opened their home-and-away series against Lewis University with a strong 5–2 win at the Kube Sports Complex before falling 8–4 on the road in Romeoville the following afternoon.
 
The Basics

• Records: Purdue Northwest (11–5), Lewis University (1-1)
• Locations: Hammond, Indiana & Romeoville, Illinois
• Two-Game Series

Game One
Inside the Numbers

• Purdue Northwest goaltender Elias Johansson (Gothenburg, Sweden) earned the win, stopping 29 of 31 shots in a full 60-minute performance.
• The Pride scored five goals from Fynn O'Neill (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/), Devin Wiegel (Orland Park, Ill.), Collin Kozijn (Leduc, Alberta/) (PP), Alex Moon (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte), and RJ Swaw (Orland Park, Ill./).
• Assists came from Nate Cheney (St. Michael, Minn./), Gabriel Santa Maria, Brayden Mitchell (Chesterfield, Mo./), Adam Napravnik (Praha, Czech Republic/), Alex Moon (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte), Zach Cestero (Estero, Fla./), RJ Swaw (Orland Park, Ill./), and JT Verdino (Rutherford, N.J./), contributing to PNW's balanced offensive attack.
• Lewis recorded two goals, one late in the second and one midway through the third.
• Lewis goaltender Samuel Zgiet made 56 saves under heavy pressure.

The Breakdown

• Purdue Northwest controlled the opening period, striking twice.
  The first goal came at 7:00, when Fynn O'Neill (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/) finished a setup from Nate Cheney (St. Michael, Minn./) and Gabriel Santa Maria to give the Pride the early advantage.
• At 14:30, Devin Wiegel (Orland Park, Ill.) extended the lead to 2–0, capitalizing off passes from Brayden Mitchell (Chesterfield, Mo./) and Adam Napravnik (Praha, Czech Republic/).
• Lewis found the net once in the second period, but the Pride held firm defensively to take a 2–1 lead into the third.
• PNW exploded in the final frame. On the power play at 5:51, Collin Kozijn (Leduc, Alberta/) buried a rebound off assists from Alex Moon (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte) and Zach Cestero (Estero, Fla./), restoring a two-goal cushion.
  At 15:07, Alex Moon (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte) scored to make it 4–1 following a feed from RJ Swaw (Orland Park, Ill./) and JT Verdino (Rutherford, N.J./).
• Then at 19:02, RJ Swaw (Orland Park, Ill./) added the dagger, finishing a setup from Moon and Verdino to close out the 5–2 victory.

 
Game Two
Inside the Numbers

• PNW split time between two goaltenders: Elias Johansson (Gothenburg, Sweden) made 17 saves in 41 minutes, while John Hughes (Noblesville, Ind./) stopped 6 of 6 in relief.
• The Pride offense produced four goals, coming from Jacob Behnke (South Elgin, Ill./), Alex Moon (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte) (PP), JT Verdino (Rutherford, N.J./), and Alex Moon (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte) again (PP).
• Assists were credited to Blake Witkowski (Thompson, Conn.), Adam Napravnik (Praha, Czech Republic/), Zach Cestero (Estero, Fla./), and Dave Anderson (Carrolton, Texas).
• Lewis delivered a high-powered offensive performance, scoring eight times, including one empty-net goal.
• Lewis goaltender Samuel Zgiet turned away 44 shots to secure the win.

The Breakdown

• PNW started strong when Jacob Behnke (South Elgin, Ill./) opened the scoring at 3:12, finishing a play set up by Blake Witkowski (Thompson, Conn.) and Adam Napravnik (Praha, Czech Republic/).
• After Lewis tied it at 8:17, the Pride regained the lead on the power play at 14:24, when Alex Moon (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte) hammered home a goal assisted by Zach Cestero (Estero, Fla./) and JT Verdino (Rutherford, N.J./).
• But Lewis closed the first period with another goal to send the teams into intermission tied 2–2.
• Lewis took control in the second, scoring twice to build a 4–2 advantage. Despite pushes from PNW, the Pride were unable to break through in the period.
• In the third, Lewis added two quick goals, extending the deficit.
  PNW fought back at 18:48, when JT Verdino (Rutherford, N.J./) scored off assists from Dave Anderson (Carrolton, Texas) and Witkowski, cutting the score to 7–3.
• Lewis answered with an empty-net tally before Alex Moon (Wyandotte, Mich./Wyandotte) added his second power-play goal of the night at 19:57, finishing a late opportunity to make it 8–4.
• Lewis played a physical, penalty-heavy game, taking 23 minutes on five infractions, while PNW recorded just one minor penalty.

 
Up Next
The Purdue Northwest D2 Hockey Team returns to action this Friday, December 5th, as they travel to take on  Marquette University