On Friday, October 7th, at the Alpha Ice Complex, the Duquesne ACHA Division 1 club hockey team pitched a 4-0 shutout over the Mercyhurst Lakers, in a game where the Dukes thoroughly out shot the Lakers.

​Both teams started the game on the wrong foot, with neither team able to generate any consistent offensive zone time. Head coach Conrad Waite did commend his team for how they were able to limit Mercyhurst’s chances. He also loved the fight in the team, saying “we showed a lot of resilience even when we weren’t at our best.”

​About 14 minutes into the period, goaltender Kyle Plantz made a key stop on a Mercyhurst breakaway, tipping the puck off the post to keep it a scoreless hockey game. Plantz would go on to make many key saves, helping to keep the momentum on Duquesne’s side.

​At 17:13 in the period, forward Nate McNamara broke the tie, redirecting a centering pass from Brian Butler, giving the Dukes a deserved 1-0 lead entering the first intermission.

​Early into the second period, the Dukes were able to kill off a 5 on 3, giving the squad an even bigger boost of momentum. At 11:45 in the second, Mercyhurst took a major penalty for an illegal check to the head. 25 seconds into the power play, Shane Nolan took a shot from near the blue line through traffic, and beat the MU goaltender up high. Coach Waite said “the goal came off of traffic in front and just getting the puck on net.” They weren’t able to score any other goals on the extended powerplay, however. 

​While there were no more goals in the second period, the Dukes were starting to push the play a lot more. Neither team was able to generate a lot of offensive zone time, but the Dukes were definitely creating more of it, and they were well deserved leaders after 2 periods.

​Early in the third period, Plantz once again made key plays, this time on a penalty kill. Plantz was able to make save after save to keep the Dukes ahead by 2 goals, and help keep momentum, in a moment where losing it could have had drastic consequences. 

​About midway through the period, forward Sam Hoyen, who was named star of the weekend, buried his chance on an assist from Hayden Feck and Shane Nolan. The two, Feck and Hoyen, had worked a give-and-go which turned into a 2 on 1 in front of the net, and Hoyen scored on a diagonal pass from Feck. 

​With under 5 minutes to play, Hayden Feck scored another goal on a feed from Hoyen, making it 4-0 Duquesne. When speaking about the 2 goals scored in the third, Coach Waite said “Feck, Hoyen, and Nolan were really good, especially in the third period. They scored 2 big goals to put the game away, both on quick counterattacks.”

​The Dukes are now 3-3-1 on the season and 1-0 in CHMA League play. Their next game is October 14th at John Carroll, and their next home game will be on October 23rd at 1:30 pm at Alpha Ice Complex for breast cancer awareness game. Duquesne hockey will be supporting Zeta Tau Alpha’s philanthropy of breast cancer awareness and education. Half of all ticket sales will go towards this great cause, so come out and support the Dukes!