Naturals Post Fifth Straight Win, 11-5
Aaron Howe Records Hat Trick to Lead Northwestern’s Hockey Club
Posted on June 29, 2009
Aaron Howe, Undergraduate Studies, scored three goals from his wing position to lead Northwestern Health Sciences University’s club hockey team, the Naturals, to an 11-5 win over Nameless in a Showcase Summer Hockey League game at Parade Ice Arena on June 28.
The Natural’s win avenged an earlier 8-4 loss to Nameless and improved their record to 5-3-0 in the Summer League and 9-9-2 overall this season.
Northwestern’s second forward line led the Naturals with 10 points, one more than the team’s top forward line. For the first time this season, defenseman Greg Petersen, Undergraduate Studies, moved up to offense and centered the second line. He led the team against Nameless with five points on four assists and a goal. He assisted on two of Howe’s goals and both of the goals from the other second-line wing, Matt Miller, T5 chiropractic.
The Naturals’ first line quickly staked Northwestern to a 2-0 lead in the first few minutes of the first period on goals by Andrew Erlandson, T2 chiropractic, and Jake Bohnen, T3 chiropractic. Howe then scored a pair of goals as the Naturals raced to a quick 7-1 lead at the end of the first period. First-line center Mike Modich, T9 chiropractic, had three assists in the game while Bohnen tallied a pair of goals and an assist. Erlandson added a goal and two assists.
“We’re a different team than we were five weeks ago,” said John Healy, hockey club advisor and the University’s director of communications. “Although we did add Petersen and Howe in the last month, they scored just four of our 11 goals last night. Everyone of the team is playing better. Our passing has vastly improved, we are creating a lot more scoring opportunities, and our defense is so much better than it had been.”
Goalie Nick Ongaro, T6 chiropractic, posted the defensive highlight of the evening when he blocked a point-blank penalty shot. “Nick stuffed a couple of their breakaways as well,” noted Healy. “His goals against average is 4.0, which is impressive because this is a high-scoring league.”
During the last four games, the Naturals have scored almost 10 goals per game. Adding points against Nameless were defenseman Jordan Dyke, T2 chiropractic, who recorded a goal and an assist, and fellow defenseman Jeff Bjorklund, T3 chiropractic, who had a pair of assists. Matt Freudenthal, T6 chiropractic, who played one period at forward and two periods on defense, chipped in a goal.
News and Notes
Northwestern will field a team at ChiroGames in November in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The Naturals will play in a round-robin tournament with Palmer West, New York College of Chiropractic, and Canadian Memorial College of Chiropractic.
The Naturals will be practicing through the end of July at Bloomington Ice Gardens. New players are always welcome. Contact John Healy, club advisor, for details at jhealy@nwhealth.edu. The club will take August off, then start twice a week practices in September to prepare for their inaugural season in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, a full-contact collegiate club hockey league. The Naturals will be playing their home schedule at the Bloomington Ice Gardens, where they practice. The schedule is still being developed, but the Naturals will begin ACHA play in October.
The club will also field a team in the Adult Hockey Association’s Winter Elite Division, the premier non-contact men’s league in the Twin Cities. The Naturals played in the AHA’s Spring Elite Division earlier this year, posting a 1-5-2 record. Many of the players on the club will play both in both AHA and ACHA games. Players who don’t want to play contact hockey will play in just the AHA.
Next Game
The Naturals will not play during the July 4 weekend. Their next Showcase Summer League game is on Sunday, July 12, at 7:30 p.m. against Tracy’s Saloon at Parade Ice Arena. The Naturals lost earlier this season to Tracy’s Saloon 5-4. That was Northwestern’s last loss before the team’s current five-game winning streak. Parade Ice Arena is located just west of the Walker Art Center near downtown Minneapolis.
Natural’s Showcase Summer League Season Schedule