Warriors Send Seniors Out in Style with Drubbing of Waldorf

FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University honored their 2021 seniors on Saturday night as they completed and split-site series with Waldorf University. On Friday night the Warriors traveled to Albert Lea, Minnesota to take on Waldorf and came away with an 11-1 road win. The finale of the series saw the theme continue as Midland won 9-1 on Senior Night to improve to 8-14-0-0 on the season.
FRIDAY: Midland 11, Waldorf 1
Luke Sanko and Ondrej Blaha each recorded hat-tricks Midland cruised to a dominant win. Sanko opened the scoring in the first with a goal from Ryan Donovan at the 1:59 mark. Four minutes later the duo connected once more for Sanko’s second of the night at the 5:56 mark. Midland took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
In the second, Sanko completed his hat-trick with a power-play goal at the 5:10 mark. Zach Eddington and Blaha assisted on the score. Waldorf would get a power-play goal of their own later in the period as they found the back of the net with 4:36 left in the period.
With a comfortable 3-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes, Midland began the third on the power-play and used the man advantage to spark a flurry of scoring. Donovan pushed the puck home just under a minute into the period to make it 4-1 off a feed from Fletcher Chun. That goal was the straw that broke the camel’s back as the Warriors would light the lamp seven more times in the third.
First it was Blaha from Sanko at the 2:57 mark. Then Ben Bergman got on the board off an Ayrton Cornic assist to make it 6-1.
Chun picked up assist number two of the night at the 5:32 mark when he found Trevor Timm for goal number seven.
After a nearly six minute lull in the Warriors’ offensive storm, Blaha scored his second of the night at 11:26 off an assist from Sanko and Zach Eddington. Timm got his second score just over a minute later as Detrick Wilkerson found him for the score at the 13:10 mark.
Nine seconds later, Jesse Stepp scored his first goal of the game off a feed from Chun. Blaha capped off the onslaught and complete his hat-trick with 2:48 remaining to make it 11-1. Donovan and Cornic assisted on the final goal of the game.
Jaden Gardner went the distance, earning 21 saves on the night. The Warriors outshot Waldorf 70-22.
SATURDAY: Midland 9, Waldorf 1
Less than 24 hours after their game in Minnesota, Midland and Waldorf took the ice at Sidner Ice Arena in Fremont. The change in venue didn’t change the change a thing as Midland once again steamrolled their opponents.
The Warriors opened the scoring with three goals in the first and never looked back. Forty-seven seconds into the game Ondrej Blaha started what would be his second consecutive game with a hat-trick, scoring off a pass from Fletcher Chun and Jesse Stepp.
Chun got a goal of his own five minutes and change later as Luke Sanko and Blaha found him for the eventual game-winning goal. Not to be outdone by Blaha, Sanko began his scoring night with a goal in the 16th minute of action. Like Blaha, Sanko also registered a second-straight hat-trick night.
In the second period, after Waldorf scored their lone goal of the game, Kean Kontor went coast-to-coast for an unassisted goal at the 1:46 mark. He collected the puck behind his own net and raced up the ice through the porous Waldorf defense for the one-timer to make it 4-1
After a dozen minutes of skating and penalties by the two teams, Blaha slapped home his second and third goals of the night. The first came at 13:42 off a pass from Ryan Donovan and Sanko. The second at 16:40 from Kontor. Midland would take a 6-1 lead into the final break.
In the final stanza, Sanko scored twice with a Kolten Wright goal sandwiched in between. Sanko’s first of the period, second of the game, came off an assist from Ben Bergman and Zach Eddington. Wright’s goal was assisted by Trevor Timm and Ian McHenry.
The final goal of the night, the one that completed Sanko’s hat-trick, came at the 10:08 mark off a pass from Eddington and Detrick Wilkerson.
Angus Laing had a 24-save night in net for the Warriors to earn the win. Midland outshot Waldorf 78-25.
Midland (8-14-0-0) will look to carry over their momentum from this weekend’s sweep into next weekend when they host Missouri State University (4-8-1-1). The Warriors and Bears will square off on Friday and Saturday, March 12 and 13, in Fremont. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. at Sidner Ice Arena.