Feature photo by Ephraim Rodenbach
Story by David Cassman
Middle Tennessee State University (5-1-1) defeated Wake Forest (1-3-1) 8-4 on Friday, Oct. 18 at the Antioch Ford Ice Center.
The first period started very fast-paced and physical, with MTSU captain Linden Palmer scoring the game’s first goal off a deflection from Wake Forest goalie Max Siegel.
Just minutes after the Blue Raiders’ first goal Donovan Yesnach netted his 8th goal of the season with an assist from Hayden Ratliff to extend the lead to two.
Wake Forest would take advantage of a power play opportunity and score a goal to cut the lead to one goal with 11 minutes left in the first period.
The Blue Raiders added two more points with goals from Ethan Demumbrum and Anthony Banas. Wake Forest would attempt to slow down the game with a goalie swap, replacing Siegel with Owen Polombo.
After Wake Forest’s goalie swap Palmer scored his second goal of the night with a backhand shot from a pass by Demumbrum, and Clay Stalzer would score another goal in the last 30 seconds of the first period to make the score 6-1.
Wake Forest started the scoring in the 2nd period with a goal by Tyler Granelli, while Wake Forest looked like a different team than in the first period.
Mtsu responded very quickly with Stalzer’s second goal of the night with an assist by Ratliff.
Wake Forest getting traffic to the net, scored its second and third goals of the period with goals by Nicholas Azzarello and Landon Douthit while they outscored MTSU 3-1 in the second period to cut the Blue Raider lead to three points.
“We lost the second period 3-1, and I think they got into our heads a little bit,” MTSU head coach James Murray said. “I just told them they gotta dial in and stick to the game plan.”
The third period was much more of a defensive battle between the two teams, with the only goal coming from MTSU’s Anthony Paponetti in the last minute to make the final score 8-4.
During Friday’s game, MTSU Captain Linden Palmer recorded two goals and an assist, adding to his program record of over 100 career points.
“It feels good (leading the program in career points ) but a point is a point,” Palmer said. “The team getting a win is much more important for me than stats.”
David Cassman is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines.
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