Green Knights Lose Overtime Crusher to St. Scholastica

From Sports Information Director, December 4, 2009 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

GREEN BAY - A furious rally by St. Norbert College proved to be for naught as the College of St. Scholastica claimed a 4-3 overtime win in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game between two nationally ranked teams at the Cornerstone Community Center.

St. Scholastica, ranked seventh in the USCHO.com Poll, improved to 6-1-2 overall and 3-0-2 in the NCHA with the win. St. Norbert, ranked third by USCHO.com, fell to 9-2-1, 6-1.

St. Norbert scored a pair of extra-attacker goals in the final 1 minute 20 seconds of regulation to force overtime. The Green Knights, who were on a major power play for 4:19 of overtime, then had a lazy pass at the blueline picked off by the Saints' Jordan Chong, who beat goaltender B.J. O'Brien five-hole for the shorthanded overtime game-winner.

The Green Knights trailed 3-1 heading into the final stages of regulation. St. Norbert pulled O'Brien and received an extra-attacker goal from Matt Boyd with 1:20 left to draw within 3-2. With 41 seconds left, St. Scholastica's Rob Rodgers was fingered for a major checking-from-behind penalty, and the Green Knights converted with 8 seconds left when Tyler Allen poked in a loose puck.

St. Scholastica scored the game's first goal 31 seconds into the second period when Jeff Gagnon poked him a loose puck in the crease while on the power play. The Saints' Jordan Baird made it 2-0 with a goal 1:40 into the third period. St. Norbert's Nick Tabisz scored on a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 6:03 of the third on a slapshot from the right point to halve the deficit.

St. Scholastica outshot St. Norbert 29-21, including 15-11 in the first two periods. The Green Knights were 2-for-7 on the power play, while the Saints were just 1-for-3.

Zach Kleiman made 18 saves for St. Scholastica, while O'Brien made 25 stops for the Green Knights.