“This is it. Don’t Get Scared Now” is the final quote left by Kevin McCallister before the Wet Bandits strike in the finale of Home Alone. Right now, the Blue Streaks hockey team is Kevin eating his mac and cheese while awaiting his final showdown. This past weekend, the Blue Streaks clinched a top 3 spot in the College Hockey Mid-America division tournament as conference play ended. 

Should IUP beat Robert Morris on Sat., Feb. 18, John Carroll will get the No. 2 seed for the tournament and a quarterfinal bye. If Robert Morris wins, the Blue Streaks will be relegated to the No. 3 seed and play No. 6 Kent State in the opening round of the tournament. 

The Blue and Gold faced the Robert Morris Colonials on Fri., Feb. 10 for their senior night celebrations. Seniors Nate Cava, Matthew Commendatore, as well as Max and Mike Kirth-Gruszczynski were honored before the game for their hard work and contributions to the program. 

The fierce rivals skated to a scoreless first period which proceeded one of the most incredible periods I’ve ever seen in my years of watching hockey. 

Tristan Weigand ‘25 drew first blood for John Carroll. Weigand, who has prided himself in strong defense all season long, has developed into a leader in the Blue Streak locker room and blue line. 

Following Weigand’s goal, the dangerous Colonials scored three consecutive goals. The Blue and Gold were given a man-advantage where Tyler Putnam ‘24 fed Charlie Tuggey ‘26 to cut the deficit in half. One minute later, Payton Fogarty ‘25 tied the game at three goals aside. 

Max Richter ‘23 scored a beautiful goal on his backhand and graduate student and team captain Max Wopperer scored on the power play to give John Carroll a two-goal lead. The pair of Max’s have been on a tear this semester and will be big names to watch for new Blue Streak hockey fans this weekend.

The third period was not as strong for the Blue and Gold as they fell 7-5 including an empty net goal in the final seconds of the game. A tough fight, Robert Morris will be an opponent the Blue Streaks could see again in the CHMA Tournament.

John Carroll needed to win on the road at West Virginia on Sat., Feb. 11 to keep their bid for the No. 2 seed alive and that they did. Cava laid the groundwork stopping 24 of 27 shots, and the Blue and Gold offense paved the way. 

The Mountaineers struck first but Max Kirth-Gruszczynski finished a rebound to even the score. Putnam scored on a beautiful off angle chance, as the Streaks concluded the first period up a goal. 

WVU momentarily tied the game at two goals apiece, but the party began right after this goal. 

Ryan Young ‘25 blasted a shot from the point to take the lead, and Matthew Pfeifer’s ‘24 beautiful playmaking found a puck to Clay Gazdak’s ‘24 stick who doubled the lead. Commendatore and graduate student Carlo Bertoni both made good on chances in front of the net. Putnam capitalized on a chance by hitting Fogarty to extend the lead further. 

Tyler Lamark ‘24 and the Mountaineers exchanged a goal in the third period but when all was said and done, John Carroll made good on keeping their No. 2 seed hopes alive and spoiling the Morgantown crowd’s night on their senior night. 

The Blue Streaks finished conference play at a strong 8-3-1 mark and will play an exciting non-conference weekend of hockey before the CHMA playoffs. On Fri., Feb. 17, Coach Shantery’s team takes things outdoors against Canisius for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop at FirstEnergy Stadium. Tickets for the game can be bought here and the broadcast can be found at jcusports.com/live. 

The team will then travel to Buffalo, New York on Sat., Feb. 18 to take on Canisius in a back to back weekend of competition to end the regular season play.