Montana Tech Hockey Undefeated in California

The Oredigger Hockey team went 4-0 in California this past weekend and is now 6-0 on the season. They will play at home against the University of Wyoming on November 6th and Utah State on November 7th. Game recaps from this past weekend can be found below:

Montana Tech at USC, October 25th:
The Orediggers finished their California tour with a rout of the USC Trojans Sunday morning, completing the sweep of the four southern California teams. Goalie Alex Caravaggio pitched a shutout against his former team, and Montana Tech came away with the 6-0 win. Mac Smith scored on an assist from Tyler Onstott 4:47 into the first period and then the Diggers struck again with 6:37 left to play in the period. This time Onstott did the damage aided by Matt Hutchings and Blaine Bokenfohr. Brendan McCalpin slid one in with 9:02 left in the second period, with the help of Dunk Abbott and Joel Johnson. Johnson lit the lamp twice in the third period, the first at 11:21 with assists from Smith and McCalpin and the next with 5:21 left to play aided by Abbott and McCalpin. Hutchings sealed the deal when he scored off a Bokenfohr assist, with just 12 seconds left in the game. 

Montana Tech at Loyola Marymount, October 24th:
The Montana Tech Orediggers continued their winning streak in southern California by taking down the Loyola Marymount Lions 3-1 Saturday night. With two key players missing in the lineup, the Diggers took a little time finding their rhythm. But they struck first at 9:10 minutes into the game with a goal from Matt Hutchings, assisted by Blaine Bokenfohr and Kody Wickham. The Lions tied it up with about five minutes left in the first period. The Diggers found the net twice more during the second period. Bokenfohr scored 12:39 into the period, with assistance from PJ Lawler and Dunk Abbott. Then Hutchings found the net again with the help of Kyle Ceretzke and Wickham with 4:24 left in the period. Although both teams were scoreless in the third period, it was another action packed game Montana Tech style. The speedy and physical Orediggers wore down the southern Cali team and held on for the win. Goalie, Alex Caravaggio, notched the win with 29 saves. Player of the game honors went to Matt Hutchings.

Montana Tech at Cal State Fullerton, October 23rd:
The Orediggers recorded another win late Friday night against Cal State Fullerton, beating them 5-2. CSUF struck first 11:30 into the period but the Diggers tallied two goals before the first intermission. With 3:18 left in the period, Joel Johnson knocked one in, assisted by Brendan McCalpin and Mac Smith; then just two minutes later, McCalpin found the net, thanks to assists from Johnson and Kyle Ceretzke. The second period was fraught with penalties but the Diggers added two goals as Kody Wickham scored on a powerplay, with assists from Dunk Abbott and Blaine Bokenfohr, five minutes into the period and then Johnson struck with just 1:27 left in the period, with the help of Abbott and PJ Lawler. The final period saw just two goals, one for each team. Tech’s goal came from McCalpin with less than six minutes left in the game; he got the assists from Tyler Onstott and Ceretzke. CSUF added one more with 6:48 left in the game. Goalie, Dave Rathgeber, was in net and tallied 31 saves. Ralph Thrall was honored as player of the game.

Montana Tech at Long Beach State, October 22nd:
Montana Tech started off their four game weekend with a 6-3 win over Long Beach State on Thursday night. The Californians struck first with a goal at 5:18 into the first period but the Orediggers found their rhythm and answered with three goals of their own before the end of the period. First, Blaine Bokenfohr scored with an assist by Kody Wickham at 9:04 into the game. Three minutes later, Dan Morris found the net with an assist by Dave London. Then Brendan McCalpin added another, assisted by Mac Smith, with 30 seconds left in the period. Dunk Abbott started off the second period with a goal just 40 seconds in, thanks to the assist from Bokenfohr. Long Beach scored at 7:45 into the second period and Tech’s PJ Lawler retaliated just two minutes later, assisted by Wickham and Abbott. Things started to heat up in the second period, as the southern Cali team experienced the hard-hitting fast paced style of the Orediggers. The third period was full of hard hitting action but not many tallies on the scoreboard, thanks to the skilled goaltenders. The Orediggers played much of the third period short-handed but Brett Campbell found the net on a rare powerplay at 8:06 into the period. The assists came from Joel Johnson and London. Long Beach went on to score one more with 6:48 left in the game. The Diggers experienced much taunting from the folks in the beer gardens located above the visitors’ bench but held on for the win in front of the hostile crowd. Goalie, Alex Caravaggio, notched the win with 27 saves. Player of the game honors went to defenseman, PJ Lawler.