Montana Tech Diggers Split Road Trip Weekend with Strong Performances
The Montana Tech Diggers (Tech) split a pair of away games between the University of Montana (Griz) and University of Idaho (Vandals) last weekend.
Tech vs Griz - Friday, Oct 17th (6 - 0)
Tech met the Griz in Missoula for their only matchup of the season, after the first game was canceled due to an ice conflict in Butte. In front of a loud Halloween-themed crowd, the two teams traded punches through much of the first period before the Griz struck first shortly before the halfway point at even strength. The Griz got on the board again less than 2 minutes later on the power play, when Sawyer Inman took the only Tech regulation-time penalty. The Griz scored one more time in the frame, and headed to the dressing room leading Tech 3-0 after 20 minutes.
Photo Credit: Lisa Schake
The second period was a much closer affair, as Tech held pace against the Griz for the majority of the 20 minutes. However, despite getting 9 shots on net, the Griz were the only team to score, increasing their lead to 4-0 shortly past the midway point on a defensive zone turnover.
The third period was controlled mainly by the Griz, who outshot Tech 19-3 in the final 2 minutes. The Griz padded their lead with 2 additional goals, and shut out Tech by a final score of 6-0.
“Although we were outmatched for most of the game, I’m happy that the team remained steady and didn’t let the game get away from us”, noted Coach Dave Rathgeber.
Tech vs Vandals - Saturday, October 18th (3 - 0)
Tech traveled to Moscow, Idaho, to take on the Vandals in their second game of the road trip. Tech ran a short bench, missing top scores Colin McCarthy and Luke Benoit, as well as Aiden and Sean Ripplinger.
The first period was a relatively uneventful affair, with a single penalty called early against Tech on Ryan Patrick for Tripping. Captain Tye Carriere scored the only goal of the frame, on a solo effort, at 11:42.
The second period saw more back-and-forth action, and neither team could establish any significant offensive zone time at even strength. However, Tech would capitalize on the power play when Jack Delici banged in a loose puck after a feed from Cade Holland missed Carriere. At the end of play in the second period, defenseman Mason Kramer would take a 5-minute major for high-sticking.
Photo Credit: Lisa Schake
Tech came out short-handed but held off any attempt from the Vandals at offense, even when the team would go down 5-on-3 for a minute. Carriere netted his second of the game on the power play on a shot from the point, putting Tech up by 3.
Shot stats were unavailable for the Vandals game, but Rhett Engel stopped all shots against, earning Tech's first shutout victory of the year.
Although Tech came home with the win, the overall consensus was that it was a poorly played game against the Vandals.
“We weren’t near good enough on Saturday night”, commented Carriere, “[about the performance] we’ll sweep that under the rug and move on”.
“We’re a better team than what we put on the ice”, said Rathgeber. “Even being short-rostered, that’s when players step up. Unfortunately, we didn’t see that tonight, and we’re disappointed in our performance regardless of the victory”.
Takeaways
Jack Delici’s point streak ended on Friday in the 6-0 loss to the Griz, but he got a point on Saturday.
The loss against the Griz was the first time the Diggers' offense had been shut out this season.
Rhett Engel earned the team's first shutout of the season on Saturday against the Vandals.
Tech has a rare weekend off over Halloween, returning to the ice to face the Vandals at Home on November 7th and 8th. November 7th will be the Veterans Appreciation Game, where the team will honor current and former military members.
