The beginning of the 2022-23 hockey season may not have been what everyone hoped for. 

Injuries derailed the early section of the campaign which had the Blue Streaks sitting at a record of 3-5-0. Despite a rough start, the Blue and Gold have seen many positives including, but not limited to, a hot start by graduate student goaltender Martin Moine and the emergence of defenseman Payton Fogarty ‘25. 

Coach Scott Shantery’s team had a chance to erase the doubts of the first eight games by sweeping the first College Hockey Mid-America games of the year against Duquesne and Mercyhurst on Fri., Oct. 14 and Sat., Oct. 15 — and that is just what they did. 

On Friday night, the Blue Streaks faced the visiting Dukes of Duquesne who had given the Streaks fits in a late season contest last year. 

The visiting Dukes drew first blood courtesy of a rebound and immediately sent the Carroll kids into a state of resiliency. 

On the following shift, Joe Primiano ‘26 found himself on a mini-breakaway and finished on a beautiful move to tie the score and fire up the home crowd. Seconds following Primano’s goal, fellow freshman and linemate Sam Herr lit the lamp, forcing a momentum swing and pushing the Blue Streaks to their first lead of the weekend. 

Duquesne was able to tie the game before the conclusion of the first period. The second period saw both teams trade chances but neither team found the tiebreaker through the first 16 minutes. 

Just over the 16 minute mark, the Dukes scored on an off-angle rebound to take their second lead of the night. 

On a night where goaltender Martin Moine was beaten by a few tough shots that he didn’t have a chance to stop, Moine did what he had throughout his Carroll career and shut the door when it mattered most. Moine played a flawless final 23 minutes of the contest. 

Trailing 3-2 late in the second period, it was integral for the Blue Streaks to return to their form that won them the CHMA title a year ago. 

Ethan Miller ‘24 won a key faceoff in the offensive zone and transfer student Chris Wracker ‘24 harnessed the puck and ripped it high and past the Duke’s outstanding goaltender Jack Lymn, sending the Blue Streak bench into a frenzy. 

As if one goal wasn’t good enough, Wracker scored under two minutes into the third period for his second goal of the night and gave the Blue and Gold a lead they would not relinquish. 

Minutes later, Blue Streak goalscorer Tyler Putnam ‘24 unleashed a shot from the bottom of the circle and followed his own rebound to the back of the net to double the home team’s lead.

An empty netter with seconds to spare clinched a John Carroll win, moving Shantery’s team to 1-0 in conference play with a 6-3 win on Friday night. 

Saturday’s home game was against Mercyhurst, a team that narrowly fell to the Blue Streaks via a 13 round shootout last season, but Carroll made sure to leave no doubt towards the outcome of this contest. 

Offensive defenseman Ryan Young ‘25 found Putnam for a beautiful one-timer 13 minutes into the game to draw first blood. 

Based on the way Moine played on Saturday, one goal was all the Blue Streaks were ever going to need. 

Early in the second period, Max Richter ‘23 jumped on a chance and returned the #15 to the goal column on the scoresheet–a place he has made his home the last two seasons.

The next ten minutes saw the game lull and opened up a chance for the Lakers to get back into the game. It is at times like this where every top-tier team needs to rely on veteran leadership to win games. Graduate student Carlo Bertoni delivered the knockout blow to the Lakers. 

Bertoni streaked up the board and into the offensive zone, beating multiple Lakers towards the net en route to a picture-perfect shot, extinguishing any second period hope gained by the Lakers.

Bertoni’s offensive skills remained on display as he threaded the needle to a wide open Sean Deakin ‘25 to extend the lead to four goals with seconds left in the penultimate period. 

Deakin is the Blue Streaks’ best offensive threat and his return to the lineup was key in victory this weekend. 

Putnam scored his third goal of the weekend on a laser of a shot to put the icing on the cake and improve the Streaks conference record to 2-0-0.

A major conference game looms in John Carroll’s future as they hop on the turnpike to Moon Township, PA on Fri., Oct. 21 to face Robert Morris University. 

Sat., Oct. 22, the Blue Streaks face another tough test for the weekend and compete against Chatham University’s NCAA’s Division III team as opposed to the typical American Collegiate Hockey Association squad. 

JCU Sports Network will have coverage for both games at this link.