The Lake Region State College men’s hockey team won both of its games against Waldorf University this past weekend at Burdick Arena. The Royals thrashed the Warriors 8-2 on Friday, Jan. 17, before winning a 3-2 overtime thriller on Saturday.
LRSC improved to 11-13 with the two wins, in just the program’s second year of existence. Both LRSC and Waldorf are ACHA Division II teams.
Friday’s contest was knotted up at a goal apiece after the first period. Kaleb Hodny scored first for the Royals, just 1:18 into the game. But Waldorf tied it up just over six minutes later.
Alex Gellner and Cullen Schmaltz both scored for LRSC in the second period. Schmaltz also had an assist, alongside Griffin Anderson, on Gellner’s goal. Tyler Kleinjan assisted both Hodny and Schmaltz’s goals.
Gellner has a team-high 15 goals on the season. Brady Wicklund, who assisted Schmaltz’s goal alongside Kleinjan, leads the team in points, fueled by his 21 assists.
The Royals ran away with it in the third period. They got an unassisted goal from Parker Swanson, then goals by Brody Steinmetz and Wicklund in the seventh minute. Brady Regner and Anderson both scored during power plays to run it up to 8-1.
Waldorf scored on its own power play with less than five minutes left. It was a dominant win by LRSC to end a two-game losing streak. Logan Hendrickson played all 60 minutes in goal, saving 20 out of 22 shots. It was a whopping 72-22 in shots on goal.
Saturday’s game was quite a bit tighter. Things still started off well for the Royals: Steinmetz scored in the first period to put them up 1-0, and Brett Lesage scored in the second period. Offense was down from Friday’s explosion, but LRSC still led 2-0 going into the third period.
The Royals allowed goals at 3:26 and 14:50. They had been just over five minutes from securing the win. Instead, they had to play an overtime period.
Two minutes and 50 seconds into overtime, Waldorf’s Zach Jimenez was sent to the box for indirect contact to the head. LRSC scored with only 10 seconds left in the power play, as Schmaltz scored from Anderson’s assist. The Royals narrowly took advantage and put the game away, registering another win all the same.
Rowan Cherkas was in goal for LRSC this time. He played all 64 minutes and 40 seconds, saving 32 of 34 shots. The shots-on-goal margin was relatively closer, though still wildly in LRSC’s favor at 59-34.
The Royals and the NDSU club team are set for a two-game home-and-home series, with the teams playing at Burdick Arena on Jan. 25 and H.A. Thompson and Sons Arena on Jan. 26.