Philadelphia, PA – The Temple Owls started their season with a win to honor their late Captain, Ryan Trefz.
“We just wanted to win this one for Trefz,” said senior forward Nick Van Allen. “We just played the way he played all the time and we came out on top.”
Rich, Francie, and Chirstopher Trefz, Ryan Trefz’s father, mother and brother, dropped the puck prior to the game’s start. Both the Owls and The College of New Jersey Lions joined the Trefz’s to cap off a heart-warming pregame ceremony that contained a 16-second moment of silence.
Every player had “16 TREFZ” stickers on their helmets. Trefz’s road jersey hung behind the team on the bench, as it will do throughout the rest of the season.
It was truly the only way the season could have started.
Alternate captains Brendan Ondick and Van Allen contributed three goals in the Owls’ 4-2 win over the Lions.
Ondick scored the opening goal of the season midway through the first period. Blayden Reid flung the puck on net, but Lions goaltender Michael Lojewski couldn’t control the rebound. Ondick corralled the puck and slotted it home to make it 1-0.
Freshman defenseman Matthew Guinette slapped the puck by Lojewski from the deep slot in the opening minutes of the second period for his first collegiate goal.
“I had a little bit of nervous energy coming into the game as a freshman,” said Guinette. “After the first period, I shook it off and started playing my game.”
Later in the second, Ondick tipped Guinette’s waist-high shot past Lojewski’s blocker with just over three minutes remaining in the second period. The goal gave Temple a brief 3-0 lead.
TCNJ alternate captain Ryan Anderson one-timed a backhander past Auerbach in the mid-slot just seconds before the intermission to bring the Lions back within two goals. They scored again early in the third period to cut the deficit to one.
“It got a little closer than we would have liked at the end,” said Ondick.
Van Allen provided an insurance goal in the final five minutes of the contest. He planted himself in front of the TCNJ net on the Draught Horse Power Play while Ondick controlled the puck to the left of the post.. The puck slid to Van Allen just in time to shove it through the five-hole to ice the game at 4-2.
Temple provided opportunities for the Lions to get back into the game, going on the Richie’s Penalty Kill five times. Andrew Kaeser finished the game with four penalty minutes, including a coincidental minor that put the teams at four skaters.
“Obviously a couple things we can clean up there,” said Ondick.
At the final buzzer, the players surrounded Auerbach with the fingers raised to the sky.
This game was truly for Ryan.
The Temple Owls’ next game is this Friday, September 20 at 9:00 P.M. against the Cornell Big Red. Regular tickets are $5, and Temple University students get in free. You can catch the game on the TUICE Network, presented by Wawa.
About the Temple University Ice Hockey Club
The Temple University Ice Hockey Club was founded in 1940 and has played in the top division of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), the top league for club hockey in the United States, since 2015. Temple plays in the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA) alongside geographical rivals in Villanova and Drexel. The Temple Owls play at The Igloo at Mt. Laurel at 3033 Fostertown Road, Mt. Laurel, NJ. They have made the playoffs in four-straight ECHA seasons.
You can watch Owls games live on the TUICE Network at TempleIceHockey.com or the Temple University Ice Hockey Club YouTube Channel.
Originally published at TempleIceHockey.com