ALBERT LEA, Minn. – Midland University opened their 2020-21 hockey season over the weekend and hit the ground running as they began the journey of their new season. To say the Warriors were ready to play hockey would be an understatement, Midland scored nine seconds into the contest and never looked back in game one of their two-game series with Waldorf University.
The Warriors started fast and finished strong with three goals in the first period and five goals in the final period on Friday night. The matchup of the two Midwest Collegiate Hockey teams was a non-conference series early in the season.
Midland outscored Waldorf a total of 14 to 3 over the two games, winning game one 9-2 and Saturday’s game 5 to 1.
Fifth-year player Luke Sanko had a solid opening weekend with four goals and two assists. On Friday, junior goalie Angus Liang picked up the win with 26 saves. Saturday night it was freshman Jaden Gardner earning the start in goal, picking up the win with 23 saves.
Several newcomers picked up their first collegiate goal this weekend. Ondrej Blaha, Ryan Donovan, Nick Novak, and Kolten Wright all scored along with returner Kean Kontor on Friday. Saturday saw returners Jesse Stepp and Phil Liakakos score their first goals of the season.
The wins continue a long stretch of dominance for Midland against Waldorf as the Warriors have now won the last four times the two have played, and are 17-1 versus Waldorf over the last five years.
“I was happy with the start of the season this weekend,” said head coach Jason Cirone afterward. “Everybody that got on the ice contributed. It was nice to see our producers from previous years step up right away and it was very good to get solid play from some of our newcomers. The skill and depth of this team will be one of the strengths this season. Each of our lines produced this weekend and played quality minutes.”
The Warriors (2-0) will look to keep this rhythm going as they prepare to face Waldorf (0-3) again on October 23 and 24. The games will be home contests for Midland with puck drop set for 7:45 p.m. on Friday and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Sidner Ice Arena in Fremont. Due to limited seating capacity this season, attendance is limited to immediate family members of the Midland team. Fans can tune in to MidlandAthletics.com to follow along via the webcast.
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