It's starting to feel like Fall outside, which was highly appropriate as several teams 'fell' this weekend.  Also falling by the wayside is our old pattern of listing the wrap-ups by order of the collegiate hierarchy -- there were several big games this weekend, and we want to show a little love to those who played with some serious stakes on the table.

While probably the most notable game this weekend would have been the first NCAA Women's game in state history, it was only a road exhibition, so we're saving that honor for next week's first-ever regular season game.  Aside from that, let's get on with the action from Week 6...

NCAA Men's D3

Trine 1, Wisconsin-Stout 2
Trine 2, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 3

Up until now, Notre Dame had the distinction of having the only NCAA hockey program in the state.  And while they still are the sole member of the distinguished Division I level, Trine University launched their NCAA D3 men's program this weekend against a pair of teams from the land of cheese.

Wisconsin-Stout had the honor of being the first opponent in program history and - unfortunately for the Thunder - also handed them their first defeat.  After a defensive first period, it was only appropriate that a defenseman scored the team's historic first goal.  Picking up the loose puck on a rebound off Carmine Taffo's blast, Josh Hinterliter lifted it over the head of the Blue Devil's goaltender and gave Trine the lead at the 12:24 mark of the second period.  UW-Stout would answer three minutes later, and the teams would head into the final frame locked at 1-1.  The Blue Devils would break the tie at 6:48 into the third, and despite pulling netminder Brett Young with just under two minutes remaining, the Thunder could not find the equalizer.  Young would finish the night having stopped 21 of 23 shots in the loss.

The Thunder squared off against fifth-ranked UW-Stevens Point in the encore, and despite a spirited performance, fell 3-2 to the Pointers.  Young would face 45 shots this time around in his second strong showing of the weekend.  Much like the night before, the first period would end in a scoreless tie with Young stopping all 17 UWSP attempts.  Yet it would be Stevens Point to open the scoring on a short-handed goal at 8:38 into the second.  Sophomore Tanner Bennett pulled the Thunder even just before the break, capitalizing on a powerplay chance in the frame's final minute.  The Pointers would go on to sandwich two goals around the halfway mark of the third to open a 3-1 advantage until the Thunder got a shorty of their own from Lucas Bombardier with just under three minutes to play.  Even with Young on the bench for the extra attacker, the Thunder's efforts to send the game into overtime would be thwarted once again.

Trine embarks on their first-ever road trip to face Marian University and Lawrence University in an NCHA doubleheader weekend.

NAIA

Aquinas 2, Indiana Tech 3
Indiana Tech 3, Aquinas 4 (SO)

The Warriors ran their winning streak to seven on Friday but fell in Saturday’s shootout against WHAC foe Aquinas College.  In an odd twist, each team would come through with on the road.  Indiana Tech would open the series in Michigan and open up a 3-0 first period lead, notching goals from Jace Childs, Joe Molfetta, and Stavros Soilis.  Following a scoreless middle frame, the ice would tilt in the Saints’ favor in third.  Austin Kuch would tally twice to cut the visitor’s lead to a single goal, but netminder John Slavik made the lead stand up to cut short the Saints’ comeback attempt.

Game two went down in much the same way as the previous night’s contest, as Tech would once again open a three-goal advantage.  Brian Skillicorn put the Warriors in front with his tally in the first period, and Mike Tish and Jace Childs stretched the lead to 3-0 in the front half of the second.  Kyle Truax would start the comeback with his first goal of the night in the second period, and eventually score the game winner in the shootout.  Zach Larson would stop 37 of 40 shots in regulation and overtime, but surrendered Truax’s goal on the first shootout attempt.  The Warriors would counter with Jarrett Pfeiffer, Adam Jonak, and Childs, but none of their attempts would find the back of the net.

Indiana Tech continues WHAC play as they host the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils on Friday and Saturday nights.  The puck drops at 8:30 both nights.

ICHC

Indiana 7, Purdue 2
Indiana 10, Purdue 3

The battle for the inside track in the ICHC heated up this weekend, and as well as Purdue has played recently, the Indiana Hoosiers made it crystal clear that they have no intention of giving up the Crossroads Cup anytime soon.  The high-powered Hoosier offense was on full display as they bombarded the Boilermakers' net with 92 shots between the two games.

Indiana had three different players net a pair of goals each in game one.  Sam Markwood opened the scoring with his tally in the sixteenth minute of the first period.  For the rest of the first and all through the second period,  the Hoosiers' Danny Brogan and the Boilermakers' John Vanvliet traded scores to keep Indiana's advantage to just a single goal going into the final frame.  Pat Gorniak ripped the game open for the Hoosiers, beating Purdue goaltender Matthew Eagon twice in the first six and a half minutes of the third.  Jack Knipscheer would add one of his own less that two minutes later, and just as he opened it, Markwood would close out the game with his second unassisted goal.  Ben Seinfeld picked up the win, allowing just two goals on 25 shots.

Despite the wide final margin in game one, Indiana came out determined not to let the Boilermakers hang around long in game two.  Knipscheer became the first of eight different Hoosiers to score, as only Gorniak and fellow forward George McMahon would be the only players to tally twice.  Trailing only 1-0 for the better part of the first period, Purdue suddenly found themselves in a 6-0 hole at the break.  Adam Gottwald would give way to start the second period, but Eagon would fare no better.  McMahon's second of the game would be the lone goal in the second, but the two teams would swap scores throughout the third.  Eric Eagon gave the Boilermakers' offense a spark less than a minute into the period, but Indiana would answer within minutes every time.  Gorniak's second goal restored the Hoosiers' advantage to seven, and each team would hit the net at the midpoint with scores from Eric Menzel and Christian French.  Alex Markovich would wrap up Purdue's scoring with five minutes remaining, yet Bryan Mooney would respond with just over three left to restore the seven-goal margin.  Connor Minnick earned the win for the Hoosiers.

Indiana has the weekend off before taking on Ole Miss on November 11th.  Purdue also has the weekend off, then resumes ICHC play on November 10th and 11th as they host the IPFW Mastadons.

ACHA D3

Butler 6, UIndy 2
Butler 6, UIndy 3

Last week these two teams squared off in what played out as a classic cross-town rivalry game, with Butler taking down the upstart UIndy Greyhounds 2-1 in OT.  This time, though, the Bulldogs reminded UIndy that the first-year program still has some work to do.  Butler relentlessly shelled the Greyhounds net much like they did in their previous meeting but had some to show on the scoreboard this time around.

Noah Brayton put the Bulldogs out in front halfway through the first period, an a Greyhound penalty would result in another Butler lead, as Jesse Longtin put the ‘Dawgs up 2-0.  UIndy's Sean Turner would tally a few minutes later to cut the lead in half, but Eric Gentry restored the two-goal edge just a minute later.  Tallies from Brayton and Brady Murphy provided Butler with a comfortable 5-1 cushion after two periods, but UIndy refused to go away quietly.  Johnny Simpson pulled the Greyhounds a goal closer to start the third, but Ryan Dyball would stone them the rest of the way.  Ben Otto would tack on one more at 14:29 to account for the final score.

Game two started about 30 minutes later than scheduled on Saturday, but that didn’t stop the Greyhounds from getting off to a fast start.  Murphy opened the scoring for the Bulldogs, but goals from Liam Partlan and Turner would give UIndy an 2-1 lead after one.  Yet the Greyhound attack would stall in the second and allow the Bulldogs to climb back in the game.  Brayton, Otto, and Jack Unterseher would score within a three minute span to put ahead 4-2 at the second intermission.  Jake Vance netted another Butler goal just sixteen seconds into the third, but Connor Heligren would tally for the 'Hounds and trim the lead to two.  Unterseher would pick up his second of the game to push the 'Dawgs advantage back to three, and Dyball would hold UIndy off the rest of the way.

Greyhounds netminder Weston Akard would confront an astronomical 116 shots between the two games, stopping all but 12 to take the loss in each.

Butler travels to South Bend for a one-game series with the Fighting Irish.  The Greyhounds continue making the rounds locally as they face Ball State in a two-fer at the Fuel Tank.

ACHA D2

Trine 4, E. Michigan 1
Trine 4, Adrian 1

Slightly lost in all the hoopla surrounding the start of the Thunder's NCAA season is perhaps the best story in Indiana hockey this season - the undefeated start to their ACHA D2 team.  The scores may have come back down to earth recently (you'd be crazy to think they could sustain the 13.68 goals per game average they had through the first seven contests), but Coach Dan Mayes and his team are still flying high.

Yielding the stage for the NCAA Men's debut, the D2 Thunder took to the road for a two-game swing through Michigan.  Friday night, they would face ACHA D1 Eastern Michigan.  Stats were still unavailable at the time of this writing, but Trine seemed to have no trouble finding the net as they grounded the Eagles 4-1.

The Adrian Bulldogs nearly snapped Trine's winning streak last week, requiring some late game heroics from Sean Schirripa, Braeden Pearl, and netminder Aaron Brickman.  This time, however, the Thunder kept the drama to a minimum, taking an early 2-0 lead.  The Bulldogs would get one back in the second to cut the margin in half, but the visitors would score twice in the closing frame to snuff out any chance of another squeaker.

The road swing continues as the Thunder travel to Dayton on Friday and Bowling Green on Saturday. 

ACHA D3

Hope 3, Indiana Tech 3 (OT)
Indiana Tech 3, Hope 7

It's eerie how similar the NAIA and ACHA seasons have gone at Indiana Tech.  Neither team had lost a game since the start of the season, and both teams rode 7-game unbeaten streaks into Saturday's contests.  And while the NAIA team fell in a shootout, the ACHA Warriors were also dealt their first defeat of the season.

Tech had some work to do Friday night to keep their spotless record intact.  Having staked the Flying Dutchmen to a two-goal advantage on a couple of power play chances, the Warriors were able to shave the lead in half on Anthony Passarelli's score in the fifteenth minute.  Hope restore their edge just past the eight-minute mark in the second on yet another power play, but Passarelli chipped in on Connor Barney's goal just 36 seconds later to cut it back down to one.  Deep into the third period, Jacob Fallis saved the streak with his tally at 15:58, and Christopher Boyd kept the Dutchmen out of the net the rest of the way to preserve the tie.

Having faced 49 shots the previous night, Boyd would once again take heavy fire from the Flying Dutchman.  Fortune, though, would not be on his side this time.  After allowing a single goal just a few minutes in, Boyd would keep the Dutchman at bay for the remainder of the period.  Michael Cruse evened the score up at the five-minute mark, but Hope would score four in the second and two more in the third to open up a sizable advantage.  The Warriors would battle back, adding goals from Cruse and Jerret Haas with over seven minutes still left to play, but Tech would be shut out the rest of the way.  Boyd would stop 38 of 45 shots in the loss.

Indiana Tech will look to get back in the win column when the host Lawrence Tech on Saturday and Sunday.

IPFW 7, Robert Morris 2
IPFW 15, Robert Morris 0

The Mastadons seemed to have benefited from the early bye week.  Since splitting their opening series with Miami (OH) and taking the next weekend off, IPFW has returned to their high-powered offense ways of last season.  The 'Dons dominated Robert Morris in a pair of road wins.

The Eagles managed to hang with their guests for the better part of two periods, answering goals from Tyler Fix and Kevin Baum with two of their own.  Yet things went south in a hurry for the Eagles with just under three minutes left in the second as Skylar Garvey and Tyler Grunden put the 'Dons in front 4-2 at the break.  The third period would belong to the Mastadons though.  Grunden and Cory Mitchell struck 24 seconds apart to push the lead to 6-2.  Grant Isenbarger would add a goal of his own, and Taylor Amborn kept the Eagles off the board to close out the win.

Simply put, IPFW took Robert Morris to the woodshed on Saturday.  Isenbarger and Cale Sanderson recorded hat tricks, while Derek Moss, Jay Conkling, and Baum would net two each.  Tony Wren pitched in four assists on the night, and Tyler Trembczynski added three helpers of his own.  Amborn would stop all 24 shots he faced in recording his first shutout of the season.

The Mastadons open their conference schedule as they host the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Friday and Saturday in Fort Wayne.

E. Kentucky 4, Denison 3
Denison 0, E. Kentucky 8

Having been outnumbered and out-gunned for the first quarter of the season, the Colonels dragged their six-game skid with them as they squared off against Denison University.  The Big Red was just the ticket for slumping Eastern Kentucky, snapping their slide on the way to a weekend sweep.

Neither team would score in the first period, and Denison would carry a 2-0 lead into the last minute of the second until Ryan Gustafson finally got the Colonels on the board.  A rejuvenated EKU squad would take the ice in the final period, getting goals from Michael Poe and Corey Jenks in the first seven minutes to take their first lead of the night.  Big Red would tie things up with just over half the period left, but Camron Angus pushed the Colonels back in front with six and change remaining and Johnathan Johnson swatted aside any notions of a Denison comeback.

Friday's win certainly sparked something in Coach Joel Cormier's boys.  With the monkey finally off their back, the Colonels no longer felt the need to press and could finally settle into a rhythm.  Gabriel Bahn would score the opening goal and have a hand in the next three, giving Johnson more cushion than he would need.  Seven EKU players in all found the back of the net Saturday, with Gustafson being the only one to tally twice.  By the time the puck settled in the Denison net off Bryce Cotton's stick with more than eleven minutes still to play, the Colonels had ran off an 8-0 and it was all over for Big Red.

Eastern Kentucky hopes to keep their mojo flowing as they take on IPFW in an ICHC showdown in Fort Wayne.

NCAA D1

Notre Dame 4, Nebraska-Omaha 6
Notre Dame 5, Nebraska-Omaha 4

It's not often you'll find the premier team in our state near the bottom of the roundup, but it's also not often you'll see such a lackluster performance from the Irish, either.  After splitting the weekend against a Sacred Heart club they should have dominated, you might expect Coach Jeff Jackson to skate any complacency out of his boys at practice the following week.

Omaha is clearly a better club than the Pioneers (Sacred Heart, not Denver), but not quite at the level of the Irish.  Yet the performance was very much the same.  Combining poor defensive decisions and a couple of bad bounces, Notre Dame found themselves trailing 3-0 before Bobby Nardella put the Irish on the board.  The Mavericks continued to keep the pressure on St. Cyr, who surrendered five goals on 30 shots before giving way to Cale Morris in the third.  Cal Burke and Andrew Peeke would score in the final minutes of the second to draw the Irish closer at 5-3.  Jake Evans picked up his fourth assist of the night on Jordan Gross' tally to start the third, but Notre Dame just couldn't get the equalizer.  Omaha would add an empty net goal with six seconds remaining to slam the door on the Irish.

Colin Theisen started things off right on Saturday, burying the feed from Burke and giving Notre Dame the early lead.  The Mavericks would respond, though, with two goals in the bottom half of the period to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room.  Whatever Coach Jackson said during the break must have struck a chord, as his club stepped their game up a couple of notches in the second.  Theisen notched his second of the night in the opening minute, and Jack Jenkins and Cam Morrison scored 11 seconds apart to push the Irish in front 4-2.  Omaha would get one back at 12:26, capitalizing on Evans' slashing call.  Evans would redeem himself with his third assist of the contest and seventh of the weekend, helping out on Jordan Gross' eventual game winner.  Morris would give up a goal midway through the third, but would hang on for the win.

Notre Dame opens their Big Ten schedule on the road, taking on the Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday and Saturday at Value City Arena.

ACHA D3

Trine 1, Notre Dame 0
Trine 8, Ball State 1

Trine's D3 squad benefited from a short recess last weekend.  Losers of four straight, the Thunder shook the rust off just enough to nip the Irish 1-0.  Stan Jatczak would net the game's only goal in the opening minute of the third period, and Daniel Klaybor would stop 35 shots to pitch the shutout.

Having found their legs, the Thunder wouldn't go so easy on the Ball State Cardinals.  Trine would dominate the action until four minutes remained in the game, when Nick Ramsey would end Justin Savage's shutout bid.  Jacob Yehle strung together two goals and an assist in the first period to stake the Thunder to a 3-0 lead just eight minutes in.  Jacob Ruelle picked up his third point of the frame on Adam Bedford's tally, and Trine would take a four-goal advantage to the locker room.  Jalan Armstrong opened the scoring in the second and Jordan Smith closed it to put the Thunder comfortably ahead after two.  Yehle would pick up his fourth and fifth points of the game on Bedford's and Ruelle's second goals to a round out the scoring for the Thunder.  Ball State netminder Zach Betz would face an astounding 61 shots, stopping 53 of them in the losing effort.

Trine hits the road to face Ferris State while the Cardinals host the UIndy Greyhounds at the Fuel Tank.