Green Knights Close Out Regular Season With 20th Win

From Sports Information Director, February 16, 2008 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The St. Norbert College hockey team wrapped up the 2007-08 regular season with a 6-2 win over Lake Forest College in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at Alumni Memorial Rink.

The Green Knights, ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division III Poll, end the regular season 20-1-4 and 10-0-4 in the NCHA. Lake Forest is 3-21-1 and 1-13 in the NCHA. The two teams will meet again next weekend in a best-of-two quarterfinal series in the NCHA Peters Cup Playoffs at the Cornerstone Community Center.

It is the third time St. Norbert has finished NCHA play unbeaten, matching the 2002 and 2005 teams. Bemidji State in 1984 is the only other team to march through an NCHA schedule without a loss.

St. Norbert jumped out to a 2-0 lead 7:29 into the game with a power-play goal by Shane Wheeler and a marker by Steven Sleep. Lake Forest answered on a defensive breakdown with Blake O'Keefe's fourth goals of the season at 10:37 of the first. Sam Tikka's floater at 15:54 of the first gave the Green Knights a 3-1 lead after the first 20 minutes.

The Foresters cut it to 3-2 when Matt Oke registered a power-play goal at 2:18 of the second, but Ryan Petersen answered at 4:01 for a 4-2 advantage.

Taylor Langford gave St. Norbert some breathing room with his fourth goal of the year at 14:38 of the third period, and Marc Belanger rang up his 19th score of the season just 28 seconds later for the final margin.

St. Norbert, which also received two assists from Tyler Allen, held a commanding 60-28 shots-on-goal advantage. The Green Knights were 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Foresters were 1-for-5.

Kyle Jones made 26 saves for St. Norbert to record his 80th career win, becoming just the 11th goaltender in NCAA hockey history (any division) to reach that number. Scott Campbell made 54 saves for the Foresters.