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Head coach Scott Bell said, “Our young forwards have really been a strong point this season. Joe Long and Dustin Fulton have played very well. Steve Festler and Justin Hanna have really helped as well.”

In the second period, Hanna assisted on fellow first-year forward Dustin Fulton’s goal, giving Hamline the 2-1 lead.

With only 1:54 into the third period the Pipers stretched the lead to 3-1 on account of first-year forward Steve Festler’s goal, proving once again that hockey depends on how good one is at using a large wooden stick to hit a hard rubber disk through a net, not age.

Unfortunately for the Pipers, the Oles made things a little more interesting, taking the lead 4-3 after a barrage of offense. It took the Oles only a fraction over ten minutes take the game back from the Pipers.

“They got a couple lucky bounces there, but we responded,” said first-year defensemen Matt Zilles.

And respond they did. Hamline added an extra attacker, and scored on account of a Hanna goal with assists from Fulton and Joe Long.

Hamline sophomore goaltender Todor Petkov made 31 saves in the game.

Although the tie might seem bittersweet, the team reflected positively on the outcome.

“First off, we played a real good team. St. Olaf is very strong. It was a back and forth game and it was nice to see our guys rally and force the tie. Had they beaten us, they would have and taken second place in the MIAC, so it is nice to compete and make a game out of it,” Bell said.

Merely competing in games is a step forward for a program that has had to face adversity this season as well as in the past. With only one win under their belt, the Pipers worked to find their groove mid-season. Unfortunately they were faced with the reality of losing captain Mike Forconi.

“At Christmas we went and played some good teams. We played the number one team in the country, but we had our senior captain go down with an injury. That obviously slowed us down,” Bell said.

Yet the Pipers kept on trucking, or rather, skating.

“Forconi was a big strong kid and definitely helped us out. It hurts to lose someone like that, but we have found other ways to score and fight through it,” said Matt Zilles. Indeed, since Forconi went down the Pipers have fought to two more victories (leaving them only one win shy of last years mark). In the last eight games, despite losing five times and tying once, the Pipers have scored 22 goals to their opponents 25.

“If you look at the stats from our team last year, we gave up one-hundred-and-forty-some goals and now we are sitting around seventy,” said coach Bell.

Statistics really do not tell the tale of this seasons successes.

“The team is improving. Our record might not reflect that, but we are much more competitive in games,” said Zilles.

The Pipers have only two games left in the season, both against the number-one ranked St. Thomas squad. Given the nature of the Pipers’ improvement, an upset is not out of the question, but it may take a miracle.