Naturals Squeak Past Naked Snowmen, 5-4
Club Hockey Team Overcomes Two-Goal Deficit
Posted on Nov. 4, 2009
Monday night’s Showcase Silver Central League game didn’t look good for Northwestern Health Sciences University’s club hockey team, the Naturals. The late start of the game (10:45 p.m.) and school work combined to reduce the number of Northwestern players who showed up at Mariucci Arena on Nov. 2 to five. That’s one player short of the six required to play hockey – and that doesn’t even cover substitutions.
But with the help of two players from the Beers – who played in the game prior to the Naturals game against the Naked Snowmen – Northwestern was able to actually put a team on the ice. A team with one player on the bench for substitutions. That meant that the Naturals played eight and nine minute shifts instead of the usual one or two minute shifts.
But Jake Bohnen, T4 chiropractic; Jeremy Heidt, T7 chiropractic; Matthew Freudenthal, T7 chiropractic, joined practice goalie Troy Otto and the Naturals’ head coach, Steve Dus, to pull out an improbable 5-4 win with the help of two unnamed Beers players.
“Amazing,” said John Healy, club advisor and director of communications for the University. “That was the best effort from our non-contact team in weeks. Plus, having Steve Dus on the ice was pretty important.”
After opening a surprising 2-0 lead in the first period, the Naturals succumbed to the physical toll of having just one substitute to fall behind 4-2 early in the third period. But Dus, proclaiming that “we aren’t going to lose tonight,” scored a memorable wraparound goal to tie the game 4-4 after Bohnen had closed the gap to 4-3 with a goal. Then, with just a couple of minutes remaining in the game, Dus intercepted a pass from the Naked Snowmen, streaked toward the goal with an opposing player draped all over him, and scored on a near-perfect shot. Dus recorded a hat trick on the evening (three goals).
The win moved the Naturals into a tie for second place in the Showcase Fall Central Silver League with the Beers. Northwestern’s record is 5-1-2. Leading the Central League are the Hooters, the Naturals’ next opponent. The two teams play on Monday, Nov. 9, at 9:15 p.m. at Parade South Arena in Minneapolis. The two teams tied 4-4 in their first meeting this fall. Northwestern is 11-4-3 in Showcase non-contact games since early July 2009.
Naturals’ Season Schedule
Showcase Fall Central Silver League Standings