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Lawrence Technological University

Nicholas Ceccarini men's hockey action

Four-Goal Outburst in Third Period Propels Men's Hockey Over Rochester in WHAC Clash

| By: Patrick Stewart, Director of Athletic Communications
PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Stewart

The Blue Devils won 7-1 behind sophomore Nicholas Ceccarini's two goals

Box Score FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich.--Sophomore Nicholas Ceccarini netted his first two-goal game of the season to lead Lawrence Tech to a convincing 7-1 victory Friday over visiting Rochester in Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference men's hockey action at the Farmington Hills Ice Arena. The Blue Devils improve to 13-8 overall with their third win in a row and 12-5 in the WHAC, while the Warriors dip to 0-19 on the season and 0-15 in the conference.

Lawrence Tech Highlights
  • Sophomore starting goalie Brett Tome got the win with three saves before giving way in the second period to freshman Patric Loeffler, who played the final 27 minutes and 30 seconds when he made four stops.
  • Sophomore defenseman Ian Kuntz and freshman David Hoftiezer both registered three points on a goal and two assists.
  • Sophomore Justin Hubenschmidt chipped in two assists.
Rochester Highlights.
  • JT Hosack scored RU's lone goal and Kyle Banks had an assist.
  • Blake Mitchell turned aside 41 shots.
How it Happened
  • Leading 3-1 heading after two periods, Lawrence Tech scored four times in the third to take control of the game.
  • Mitchell made several outstanding saves to keep the Warriors within striking distance through 40 minutes, but the LTU offense peppered the RU goal with 48-8 advantage in shots.
  • Blue Devils special teams were outstanding with two shorthanded goals and one on the power-play.
  • Ceccarini's first goal of the evening broke a scoreless tie with 3:13 remaining in the first period.
  • Lawrence Tech increased the advantage to 3-0 in the second period on tallies from Kuntz at the 19:08 mark and graduate student Sean Pilet 2:08 later while shorthanded.
  • Tome stopped Jordan Winrod's mini-breakaway attempt 30 seconds in the second to preserve a 1-0 lead.
  • The Blue Devils lost their shutout bid at the 8:41 mark of the third period when Hosack broke free for a breakaway goal, shorthanded.
  • But LTU had a great response with four goals during a 6:04 span to put the game away. The scoring spurt was highlighted by a power-play goal off the stick of sophomore Liam Bland 47 seconds after Hosack's tally and a shorthanded variety by Hoftiezer while going between his legs.
Beyond the Boxscore
  • Dating to last season, Rochester has lost 44 consecutive games.
  • Kuntz takes over the scoring lead among LTU blueliners with 12 points on four goals and eight assists.
  • Banks leads Rochester with 11 assists and 20 points, while Hosack now has six goals among 10 points on the season.
  • Since the all-time series started during the 2017-18 season, LTU has won 16 of 18 meetings--including an 8-0 home record over RU.
  • Ceccarini now has four goals in 2023-24 with nine games left; last season, he scored five times in 26 contests.
  • With three points for tonight's win, LTU jumps nationally-ranked Indiana Tech atop the WHAC standings, 36 to 34 points. The Blue Devils have a conference-best 12 victories in WHAC play. (Nationally-ranked Michigan-Dearborn is in third-place with 33 points.)
  • Both Hoftiezer and Hubenschmidt eclipsed the 20-point mark tonight with 21 points apiece on the season to give LTU four 20-point scorers.
Next Up
  • These same two teams are scheduled to conclude their WHAC weekend series at 10:10 p.m. Saturday at Big Boy Arena in Fraser.
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