BENSENVILLE, Ill. – A chaotic third period sank Roosevelt's ACHA Division 1 hockey team as the Lakers had to settle for a 7-7 tie with Purdue Northwest on Saturday night at The Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville.
The Pride took the shootout 2-0 to earn the unofficial victory after scoring five times in the third period to overcome a strong opening from the Lakers. Roosevelt scored the only two goals in the first period then added two more goals in the second to take a 4-2 lead into the second intermission. Purdue Northwest almost won the game in regulation until Danny Bdzoch completed his hat trick with four seconds left to force overtime.
Frank Moore gave the Lakers the opening goal nearly 10 minutes into the game when he converted a power-play feed from Gage McNeish with Bdzoch earning the secondary assist. Bdzoch doubled the lead less than four minutes later with Griffin Lehet earning the assist as Roosevelt led 2-0 after 20 minutes despite being outshot 17-16.
Purdue Northwest outshot Roosevelt 18-14 in the second, but Lehet scored 1:06 into the period to give the Lakers a 3-0 advantage. After the Pride scored twice in 90 seconds to trim the deficit, Bdzoch scored a shorthanded goal with assists from Moore and McNeish to again pad the Lakers lead. Moore and Bdzoch combined again just 65 seconds into the third period with Moore scoring his second of the game to put the Lakers up 5-2.
That is when the ice started to tilt in Purdue Northwest's favor despite the Lakers holding a 24-17 advantage in shots over the final 20 minutes. The Pride scored twice in a 10-second span to cut the deficit to one shortly after Moore's goal, but that was canceled out by Max Finner's fourth goal of the season with 13 minutes left in regulation. After that tally, Purdue Northwest scored three more times on Nicholas Kotz to take its first lead of the game, then the Lakers saved the loss on Bdzoch's 27th goal of the season.
The Lakers and Pride will square off again Thursday night in Hammond, Indiana for the first round of the conference tournament with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
