No Treats for Naturals on Halloween
Northwestern Club Hockey Team Absorbs 10-2 Defeat by Gustavus Adolphus JVs
Posted on Nov. 2, 2009
It all started so well on Halloween night for Northwestern Health Sciences University’s collegiate club hockey team, the Naturals. Defenseman Mike Modich, T10 chiropractic, opened Northwestern’s game against the Gustavus Adolphus junior varsity team with a goal just 15 seconds into the first period on an assist from forward Jake Bohnen, T4 chiropractic.
But what started great soon became ghastly, as the Naturals were outskated and outhustled by Gustavus on the way to a 10-2 loss at Bloomington Ice Gardens on Oct. 31, dropping their season record to 3-2.
A crowd of more than 100 spectators – a good showing on Halloween night – watched Gustavus build a 3-1 lead after the first period and a 5-1 lead after two periods. The Gusties daily practices showed, as they were better organized and more patient than the Naturals.
“I was worried about our intensity even before the game began when I was watching our team warming up,” said Northwestern goalie Nick Ongaro, T7 chiropractic. “We just seemed flat.”
The Gustavus varsity team was also playing at the Bloomington Ice Gardens Saturday night, defeating Bethel 5-3. Gustavus’s varsity team played for the national Division 3 NCAA title last year, losing 4-1 to Neumann College. It was obvious their 19-11 season last year helped recruit quality players to their program, many of them playing on the junior varsity team.
“This will probably be one of the better teams we play this year,” said Naturals coach Steve Dus. “They are very efficient with the puck, have a lot of speed, and are very disciplined. We played on the Olympic-sized sheet of ice tonight, and that was an advantage for them because of their speed. On a regular sheet of ice, we could have slowed them down, but not enough to win.”
Scoring the Naturals’ only other goal of the night was forward Nick Moe, T1 chiropractic, on assists from fellow forwards Zach Lundbohm and Aaron Howe. Both are T1 chiropractic students.
NATURALS NEWS & NOTES
Injury Report: Defenseman Jeff Bjorklund, T4 chiropractic, sat out the game against Gustavus Adolphus with a leg injury. He missed most of the two-game series at Dordt College with the same injury. Forward Aaron Howe, T1 chiropractic, played against the Gusties after injuring his back in the Dordt series. He played well enough to pick up an assist against Gustavus.
Points Leaders: Forward Zach Lundbohm, T1 chiropractic, moved into a tie for the team lead in points with nine after picking up as assist against Gustavus. Lundbohm has five goals and four assists in five games. Defenseman Giles Stifter, T9 chiropractic, has nine points in five games. He has a goal and eight assists. Lundbohm is the leading goal scorer for the Naturals. Matt Miller, T6 chiropractic, has seven points – four goals and three assists – along with Jake Bohnen, T4 chiropractic – four goals and three assists. Chris Trimner, T4 chiropractic, is tied with Miller and Bohnen for second most goals on the team with four. Aaron Howe, T1 chiropractic, leads the team in game-winning goals with two.
Chiro Games Competition: The Naturals travel down to Florida for the annual Chiro Games competition. The “chiropractic Olympics” features ice hockey for the first time since 2004. Also entered in the hockey competition are Palmer West and New York College of Chiropractic. Most of the Naturals will be making the trip. The games are short – 12-minute running time periods – and each team will play the other two teams once on Saturday, Nov. 7. The top team after Saturday’s action will get a bye into the gold-medal game on Sunday; the other two teams will play on Sunday, Nov. 7, in the morning for the right to play in the gold-medal game.
Next American Collegiate Hockey Association Road Trip: Northwestern goes to Yankton, South Dakota in mid-November to play a pair of American Collegiate Hockey Association games against the University of South Dakota (USD). The Naturals play the Coyotes on Nov. 13-14. The two teams share a common opponent this season – South Dakota State University (SDSU). Northwestern picked up a pair of wins against the Jackrabbits in mid-October by scores of 9-5 and 5-4. Earlier in October, SDSU beat USD 6-1.
ACHA Season Schedule: Northwestern currently has 23 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. See the up-to-date Naturals season schedule online.
Showcase Non-Contact League: The Naturals are in third place in the Showcase Central Silver League with 10 points, two points behind the leading Beers. Northwestern plays the Naked Snowmen on Monday, Nov. 2, at 10:45 p.m. at Mariucci Arena. Northwestern is 1-0-2 against the Naked Snowmen this year. Check out Northwestern’s Showcase schedule.