The Cleveland State Vikings skated to a 13-7 victory in club hockey against the Robert Morris Colonials in the home opener on Saturday. The win at home was a great start to the Vikings season and is sure to build momentum moving forward. 

Noel Gartner (20) scored the first goal of the game for the Vikings on an early power play. 

Gartner’s early goal set the tempo for the game. Shortly after that first goal, Eli Weisblat (15) scored his first of two goals in the game for the Vikings.

By the end of the first period, the Vikings were up 5-0, leaving the Colonials with a lot of work to do in the second period if they wanted to keep up with the intensity the Vikings were bringing to the ice . 

Unfortunately for the Colonials, the Vikings brought the intensity onto the ice going into the second period. 

Nick Supinski (30), goaltender for the Vikings, made a number of important saves throughout the game. One of those saves came at the start of the second period. The Colonials tried to get on the board but were denied the opportunity, all thanks to Supinski. Supinski was a key part of the Vikings win with 23 saves overall. 

Before you knew it, the Vikings were up 7-0.

The Colonials really struggled to find any rhythm throughout the first period, but managed to find it towards the beginning of the second period. Rocco Bovalino (18) of the Colonials was able to finally put the Colonials on the board. Bovalino’s efforts were echoed by  teammate  Brady Lippert (8). He was able to score shortly after, making it a 7-2 game. 

The two teams went back and forth in the second period with each team scoring multiple goals. Gartner scored again for the Vikings, Hunter Slobodnik (10) scored for the Colonials, and Hunter Mullen (24) scored for the Vikings. In total, Mullen had four assists and two goals during the game. 

By the end of the second period, the score was 9-4. Even though the Vikings were still in the lead, the Colonials did not let that get to them as they came back in the third period with intensity. 

The Colonials had an advantage right away with a few power plays. During one of those power plays, Sidney Crabtree (7) of the Colonials scored, which was quickly followed by Slobodnik’s second goal of the game, cutting the score to 9-6. 

These goals were a turning point for the game as the lead the Vikings had was slowly dwindling away. 

However, Luke Schill (8) of the Vikings made sure to help keep that lead by scoring his first and only goal of the game. Vince Holland (2) helped out the Vikings as well with his goal. Holland scored two goals during the game, making him another key player of the game. 

Even though the Colonials gave it their all, they simply could not combat the Vikings. The final score was 13-7, with three goals from Gartner, and a win at home for the Vikings. 

Up next: the Cleveland State Vikings play Ohio State University on Oct. 9 and Oct. 10 as part of a home and home series against the Buckeyes. The first   game of the series is on Oct. 9 at 8:15pm at Michael A. Reis rink in Parma, Ohio