Naturals Post Pair of Wins in Showcase Hockey
Northwestern Club Team Undefeated in Non-Contact League
Posted on Oct. 2, 2009
Northwestern Health Sciences University’s club hockey team remained undefeated with a 3-0 record in the Showcase Fall Central Silver League with a pair of wins on Sept. 21 and Sept. 28, 2009.
Leading the Naturals in their last two games was forward Zach Lundbohm, T1 chiropractic, who scored a pair of goals in each of his first two games for Northwestern’s non-contact team. The Naturals are now 9-3-1 in their last 13 non-contact Showcase league games dating back to July 2009. Northwestern played in the Showcase Summer Silver League and made the playoffs before losing in the first round.
Naturals Edge Naked Snowmen 6-5
The Naturals renewed their summer rivalry with the Naked Snowmen, a team they faced twice in the Showcase Summer Silver League. They remained undefeated against the Naked Snowmen with a seesaw 6-5 win on Sept. 28 at Parade Ice Gardens. The Naturals are 2-0-1 against the Naked Snowmen, with the wins coming by one goal and two goals.
“This was a game we would have lost three months ago,” said John Healy, hockey club advisor and the University’s director of communications. “We were missing five of our forwards and a defenseman, but we were still able to pull out the win in the third period after both teams were tied 4-4 after two periods.”
Northwestern raced to a quick 3-0 lead on goals by defenseman Greg Peterson, T1 chiropractic; forward Andrew Erlandson, T3 chiropractic; and Lundbohm. But the Naked Snowmen scored two goals to narrow the lead to 3-2 early in the second period and then took a 4-3 lead before the period ended. Forward Phil Toft, Undergraduate Studies, scored for the Naturals to tie the game 4-4. It was Toft’s first game in a Northwestern jersey.
Lundbohm opened the third period with a goal to give Northwestern a 5-4 lead; then Drew Fautsch, T1 chiropractic, scored on a breakaway when the Naturals were short-handed because of a penalty to push the lead to 6-4.
“They got one more goal to make it 6-5, and even pulled their goalie at the end, but we held on with good defense to pull out the win,” said Healy. “That short-handed goal by Drew was huge, given that the other team was on the power play. It really took the air out of them.”
Overall points for the Naturals were: Erlandson, one goal and two assists; Lundbohm, two goals and one assist; Peterson, one goal and one assist; Jace Foss, T1 chiropractic, two assists; Toft, one goal; Matt Miller, T6 chiropractic, one assist; and Jeff Bjorklund, T4 chiropractic, one assist.
Naturals Defense Dominates in 5-1 Win on Sept. 21
Thanks to an outstanding defensive effort by the entire team and some sterling play by goalie Troy Otto, the Naturals rolled over the Busted Tuuks 5-1 in a Showcase Fall Central Silver League game at Mariucci Arena. The Naturals were so dominant on defense that they held the Busted Tuuks scoreless until the last 90 seconds of the game.
“Everyone out there in a Northwestern jersey played great defense,” said Healy. “Our forwards helped out all night in the defensive zone, our defensemen were outstanding, and our goalie had a spectacular game.” Otto, Northwestern’s goalie on Sept. 21, is not a student at Northwestern but provides the team a second goalie in practice. When the Naturals’ regular goalie, Nick Ongaro, T7 chiropractic, isn’t available for non-contact games because of classwork, Otto plays goalie for Northwestern
Leading the Naturals offensive efforts were forwards Jake Bohnen, T4 chiropractic, and Lundbohm. Bohnen notched a goal and two assists after recording five points in the Naturals season opener on Sept. 14. Lundbohm, in his first game for Northwestern, posted a pair of goals. Also scoring for Northwestern were center Mike Modich, T10 chiropractic, and defenseman Greg Peterson, T1 chiropractic. Chipping in assists were defensemen Foss and Bjorklund and center Chris Trimner, T4 chiropractic.
NON-CONTACT CLUB NEWS & NOTES
Next Showcase Game: The Naturals play the Hooters on Monday, Oct. 5, at 9 p.m. at Mariucci Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. The Hooters are currently 2-1 in the Central Silver League and tied for second place.
Natural’s Showcase Fall Silver League Regular Season Schedule
Showcase Fall Silver League Regular Season Standings
ACHA TEAM NEWS
Selection of Captains: The Naturals named their three captains for the season. Forwards Jake Bohnen, T4 chiropractic, and Andrew Erlandson, T3 chiropractic, join defenseman Giles Stifter, T9 chiropractic, in wearing “C’s” on their jerseys.
Home ACHA Opener: Northwestern opens its inaugural full-contact collegiate hockey season by hosting a pair of games on Oct. 9-10 against South Dakota State University (SDSU) at Bloomington Ice Gardens (BIG). The first game is set for Friday, Oct. 9, at 7:15 p.m. and the second game will be played on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 6:45 p.m. Both games are on Rink 1 at BIG. Admission is free to Northwestern students with a student ID and general admission tickets are $3. Kids under 12, when accompanied by an adult, get in free. Concession stands should be open. The Jackrabbits, who play in ACHA Division 3 (Northwestern plays in Division 2), were 7-10-1 last season. The Naturals will travel to Brookings, South Dakota in February 2010 to play the Jackrabbits on their home ice.
First Road Trip: Northwestern follows their two games at home against SDSU with a pair of games against Dordt College in Sioux Centre, Iowa, on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17. Dordt College’s Blades posted a 24-7 record last season and qualified for the national Division 3 playoffs.
ACHA Season Schedule: Northwestern currently has 21 games scheduled between early October 2009 and early March 2010 against a variety of collegiate teams ranging from ACHA Division 2 and Division 3 teams to NCAA Division 3 junior varsity teams. The Naturals are also negotiating games with several other colleges and expect to play between 28 and 30 games this season. Click here for the team’s current season schedule.
For more about the ACHA, go to their web site.
Team Practices: Northwestern’s club team practices twice a week at the Bloomington Ice Gardens, usually on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Alumni are welcome to join the team for practices, which are contact. If you are interested, get in touch with Healy at (952) 885-5436, or e-mail him at jhealy@nwhealth.edu.