Huskies start 2006 with sweep over Duluth

Michigan Tech started the 2006 portion of this year with a sweep at Minnesota Duluth. Tech was able to get a 4-2 win Friday and follow that with a 3-1 win Saturday.

It was a weekend that showed what the future may look like at MTU, with freshmen or sophomores being a part of all but two goals on the weekend. Justin St. Louis was able to get his first and second goals as a Husky this weekend, one each night.

Friday...

Friday saw Tech get up 2-0 on the night with goals by Jimmy Kerr and Nick Anderson. UMD got the only goal in the second, and for the third straight game, MTU went into the third with a one-goal lead. This time it was different, as Chris Conner got the game-winning goal, and the third for MTU. The Huskies finished their scoring with St. Louis getting an empty-netter. UMD scored one with 32 seconds to go to make the game 4-2.

Michael-Lee Teslak was solid between the pipes, making 26 saves and getting his fifth win on the year.

Saturday...

Teslak was called upon again Saturday and he was up to the task. The first shot he faced went in, but he stopped 29 straight and got win No. 6. UMD recorded the only goal in the first and Tech the only goal in the second as Ryan Angelow was able to score for a 1-1 tie. MTU was able to put in two goals, less than a minute apart in the third, by Brandon Schwartz and St. Louis.

Other notes...

Peter Rouleau, a local (Hancock) kid, played in his third and fourth games as a Husky and played well, getting time on the power play and on one of the top two lines all weekend. He was able to get his first point as well. Conner moved into a tie for 21st all time on the MTU career goal list with 65.

Next Up...

MTU was able to get four much-needed WCHA points on the weekend and will look for the momentum to follow them into next weekend's home series against Alaska-Anchorage. Afer that, MTU will only have three more regular-season home series on the year.

Photo (from the GLI) by Matt Mackinder.

Michigan escapes with 4-3 win over USA

The No. 9 Michigan Wolverines came from behind for a 4-3 victory on Friday in an exhibition contest against the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 Team at Yost Ice Arena.

Brandon Naurato netted the game-winner on the only goal of the third period and added one assist in the game. T.J. Hensick (left) also had a goal and an assist.

"I'm glad we played this game," U-M head coach Red Berenson said. "I think we needed a game to take a step in the right direction. I felt we played better as the game wore on. I think it was good for our team to realize that the team that works the hardest is going to be the better team. I'm impressed with their team."

Chad Kolarik and captain Andrew Ebbett also scored for the Wolverines.

“Our guys battled extremely hard tonight against a very talented Michigan team,” said USA head coach John Hynes. “Michigan is a tough place to play at and our guys responded well, but unfortunately we came up short on the scoreboard.”

Billy Sauer and Noah Ruden combined for 21 saves, with Ruden playing the second half of the game and earning the win.

The Wolverines return to regular-season play on Tuesday when they make their first of two trips this season to East Lansing to face Michigan State. Game time is 7:35 p.m. and the broadcast will be carried by FSN Detroit.

Wisconsin sweeps Wayne women

Last weekend, the third-ranked Wisconsin Badgers traveled to Detroit to sweep the Wayne State Warriors. Despite varied offensive efforts from the Warriors on Friday and a solid effort from goalie Valery Turcotte, the Badgers earned a 5-3 victory on Friday and a 3-0 victory on Saturday.

Friday's contest started well for the Warriors. Sam Poyton, the CHA's leading scorer, lit the lamp less than two minutes into the game off an assist from Laura Monk (pictured). Wayne State maintained the 1-0 lead for the remainder of the first period.

A deflected shot tied the game for Wisconsin at the start of the second, but Wayne held the game close. This time, it was Poyton setting up Monk for the goal and WSU the regained lead. However, Wisconsin outshot Wayne 14-5 over the course of the period and scored two additional goals to gain a firm 4-2 lead going into the final period.

The Warriors remained in contention, as Tina Vanderhoeven got some help from Melissa Boal and Kristy Leng to bring the Warriors within a goal. Coach Jim Fetter opted to pull Turcotte in the last 1:22, but Wisconsin notched an empty-net goal to seal the 5-3 win.

Turcotte finished with 21 saves.

The Warriors were looking for redemption on Saturday, but the Badgers didn't budge.

On Saturday, a penalty-laden first period combined with 14 Badger shots equaled no goals for the Warriors. Turcotte remained solid and kept her team in the game by shutting out Wisconsin for the first 37 minutes.

Wisconsin scored twice in the second period and continued to dominate the game offensively, outshooting Wayne 11-5. A Wisconsin hooking penalty resulted in a penalty shot for Wayne captain Jessica Snelgrove, but she was stoned by Wisconsin goalie Jessie Vetter.

Wisconsin scored again at 3:14 of the third and WSU managed only two shots in the last period.

Turcotte finished Saturday's game with 33 saves.

The Warriors are on the road next weekend to face CHA powerhouse Mercyhurst College.

LSSU continues roll, sweeps WMU

Lake Superior State University completed the season sweep over Western Michigan University with a 6-1 win on Friday and 4-0 shutout on Saturday night. Jeff Jakaitis recorded his fourth shutout of the season with Saturday night's win.

Friday night, six different players scored for the 19th-ranked Lakers.

LSSU led 1-0 on a power-play goal by Trent Campbell during a close first period. The Broncos outshot the Lakers 12-11 in the opening period and tied it 1-1 on a Mike Lesperance goal at the beginning of the second period.

Senior Mike Adamek broke a 1-1 tie with a shorthanded unassisted goal midway through the of second period and ignited a Laker surge. Derek R. Smith scored two minutes later to make it 3-1 and Troy Schwab, Dan Eves and Dominic Osman added goals in the third period.

Jakaitis stopped 21 of 22 Bronco shots and the Laker defense held WMU scoreless on four power-play chances.

Dan Bellissimo gave up five goals and totaled 21 saves through 42:32. He was replaced by Eric Marvin, who stopped three of four shots.

Saturday night, Lake Superior senior forward Colin Nicholson opened the scoring for the Lakers at 6:27 of the first period scoring what would end up being the game winning goal. Campbell added his team-leading eighth goal of the season midway through the period.

The second period started with a significant scrum in the corner that saw 40 minutes in penalties called at the 2:28 mark. Jeff Rainville and the Broncos' Brent Walton each received four minutes for roughing and 10-minute misconduct penalties. Eves was given four minutes for roughing and Western’s Matt Clackson and Brian Bicek each got two minutes for roughing as well as Smith being given two minutes for elbowing.

Nathan Ward was able to score his fourth goal of the season less than two minutes later, on the power play. Kory Scoran added an empty-net goal in the closing minutes of the game.

Jakaitis recorded 30 saves in the shutout.

The Lakers are off this weekend before heading to Ferris State Jan. 20-21. Western Michigan plays a home-and-home with Bowling Green this weekend. Friday night's game is on the road while Saturday's contest is at Lawson Ice Arena.

Photo courtesy of LSSUHockey.com

ACHA Weekend Round-Up, Jan. 9

Story and photo courtesy of ACHAHockey.org

Michigan Collegiate Hockey Conference All-Star Game

MIDLAND, MI - The best players in the Michigan Collegiate Hockey Conference came to Midland, MI to play in the 6th Annual MCHC All-Star Game & Skills Competition.

Northwood University, Oakland University, Lawrence Tech University, and Calvin College (split) represented the East while Lansing CC, Hope College, Muskegon CC, and Calvin College (split) represented the West.

MCHC-West won the skills competition 8-5. The skills competition included Speed Skating, Breakaway, Hardest Shot, 3-0, Shooting Accuracy, and Rapid Fire. After the skills competition, the score remained on the board and the MCHC West vs. East All-Star Game started.

The MCHC East came back from an 3 point deficit, to tie it up late in the third period of the All-Star Game. The East All-Stars kept it going until the end of the game and finished with the win.

Final score MCHC-East All-Stars 15, MCHC-West All-Stars 13.

For more photos, please click here to visit the ACHA Division-III home page.

OU sweeps Western Michigan

By Matt Mackinder

Oakland University played a home-and-home weekend series against ACHA DI Western Michigan, taking both games by the score of 6-3. Friday night marked the first home game of the second semester and drew a great crowd.

"It's always nice to see the fan support in the stands," commented Oakland assistant coach JR Dunn. "It really adds to the great atmosphere for OU hockey."

Oakland would not leave the fans disappointed as Dan Oleksy would open the scoring with a shorthanded goal just 2:23 into the game and Will McMahon would net a power-play tally to take a 2-1 lead into the dressing room.

"The second period has been our period all season long,” OU head coach Sean Hogan said. “We just reminded the guys to stay focused and really take it to them in the second.”

The Grizzlies did just that in scoring three straight goals in the second to take a 5-1 lead after two. Oakland would get second period goals from Jonah Rogowski, Brent Cooper and McMahon.

The third period caught the Grizzlies hibernating, as Western Michigan would get two goals including a power play strike. It wouldn't be enough for the visiting Stallions as OU would cruise to a 6-3 victory.

Chris Joswiak turned aside 28 Stallion shots.

"It's always nice to get that first win after having all that time off," stated Hogan.

The Grizzlies would travel Saturday night to take on the Stallions at Lawson Ice Arena on the campus of Western Michigan. Oakland received goals from five different players, including two from McMahon, giving him a five-point weekend. Others scoring for OU were freshman Jeff Einheuser, Rogowski, Cooper and Oleksy.

Andrew Hansen made 30 saves in net for the Grizzlies.

"I am very happy with getting the four points this weekend,” Hogan said. “We need every point we can get to stay atop the Central Region rankings. Davenport is just waiting for us to slip up.”

News and Notes:
The OU power play went 3-for-20 on the weekend, an anemic 15 percent. That brings the OU power play to 35-for-133 or 26 percent…Oakland finished the ACHA DI portion of their schedule undefeated, a perfect 5-0, against the ACHA's top division.

OU Welcomes:
Defenseman Dale Swims joins OU from last years national champion Michigan State University squad. Swims will be earning a second degree from OU in biology as he works toward medical school.

"We are very lucky to get a player of Dale's caliber at Oakland,” Hogan said. “He has been a tremendous player in the ACHA and I look forward to seeing him in the OU Black and Gold.”

"Dale is a great asset to any program,” added Dunn.”He is a top player and a leader on and off the ice."

Next Up:
It doesn't get any easier for the Grizzlies as they will play three games this weekend against top-notch ACHA competition. Thursday, OU will travel to Windsor, Ontario, to take on the Saints of St. Clair College. OU lost to the varsity Saints, 3-2 in overtime, at the ONYX early in the season.

Oakland will then travel across state to take on archrival Davenport University in Grand Rapids, and then come back home to take on National semi-finalist Wagner College.

"We will really see what we are made of in these next two weeks,” said Dunn. “I have confidence that our guys will work hard and focus to get the job done.”

Biggest game in the Central? That's what the word around the league is for Friday's Oakland versus Davenport game. Davenport comes in on an astounding 15-game win streak, the longest in the league. DU's last loss? A 5-1 loss to Oakland back in October. Davenport has never beaten Oakland in the brief history of the rivalry, but has never failed to give OU all it can handle. The winners of this game will more than likely receive enough first place votes to put them atop the Central region.

"It's one of the biggest (rivalries) around,” noted Hogan. “They are a very talented team, well coached and disciplined. We will have to play A-plus hockey to get the job done.

“We just need to take it one game at a time against them. It doesn't matter what happened last semester or last season. The focus needs to be on today and the task at hand."

Lakers start New Year with Sweep

By Chris Moore

Grand Rapids, Michigan - Grand Valley returned from the break this weekend, facing off against what turned out to be a be dirty Robert Morris Springfield team for two games at home. Last year, RMC surprised the Lakers and split with them and the Lakers were ready for two tough games this weekend.

On Friday GVSU quickly controlled play, scoring two power play goals in front of a very vocal crowd. Brandon Rood scored his first career goal for GVSU and Dean Watkins added another to give the Lakers a two goal lead going into the break. Springfield's true colors started to show in the second, as the Eagles were penalized many times, and GVSU spent most of the period on the powerplay. Uninspired play killed the Lakers, however, and though GVSU added two goals, Springfield fired back with three in the period. Going into the 3rd up 4-3, GVSU was determined to turn it around and dominated the period, scoring five goals. Phil Murray added two goals in the final period to his two that he scored in the second for a four goal game. Jeff Tejchma, Robb Higgins and Nate Morang each added a goal as well to help GVSU take the game 9-4. Final shots were 48-24 in GVSU's favor. Chris Moore picked up his 9th win in net.

Fans attending Saturday's game were treated to a game that was truly one of the most bizarre games in college hockey history. After a first period where GVSU came out ahead 1-0 on Phil Murray's fifth goal of the weekend, sportsmanship went out the door for Springfield. In one of the most pathetic showings by any team, RMC fell down early in the second and then decided that if they weren't going to win, they would attempt to injury as many of GVSU's players as they could. Full swing slashes, butt-ends, dirty elbows to the head and getting into it with the again vocal fans were common place in the extremely long second period which found the Lakers scoring six goals. After five game misconducts to Eagle players and cumulating with the Springfield goaltender attempting to skate off the ice and fight the Laker fans, the coaches met and decided to call the game after the second period, making it a 7-2 GVSU victory. Springfield disgraced themselves with 129 penalty minutes compared to GVSU's 32 in just two periods of play. Watkins added two goals, while Morang, Mike Marquardt, Andrew Dykstra, and Andrew Beller each added one. It was Beller's first goal of the year and he was awarded player of the game. Final shots after 40 minutes were 51-13 in GVSU's favor. Troy VanderWeyden picked up the win in net.

GVSU travels to ACHA D1 Michigan-Dearborn for a game next Friday and then returns home with a match-up with #2 Davenport University on Saturday.

ACHA WRAP UP

D-I

#8 MICHIGAN-DEARBORN 2, #19 Kent State 1
#8 MICHIGAN-DEARBORN 4, #19 Kent State 2 (Empty Net Goal)

#18 EASTERN MICHIGAN 3, #9 Robert Morris (IL) 2
#18 EASTERN MICHIGAN 6, #9 Robert Morris (IL) 5

OAKLAND 6, Western Michigan 3
Western Michigan 3, OAKLAND 6

D-II

Robert Morris- Chicago Maroon 4, Davenport 5
Robert Morris- Chicago Maroon 0, Davenport 7

Ohio State 5, Ferris State 1
Ohio State 5, Ferris State 0

Grand Valley 9, Robert Morris –Springfield 4
Grand Valley 7, Robert Morris –Springfield 2

D-III

Alpena CC 11, Kalamazoo College 6

Finlandia shellacked, lose both on road

Finlandia found out last weekend that four goals in two games won't win hockey games.

The Lions (5-6-1, 5-2-1 MCHA) lost on the road to Wisconsin-Superior and St. Scholastica.

Thursday night against Wisconsin-Superior, Ryan Sullivan and Corey Blake scored for FU in an 8-2 defeat. Joe Juntilla made 42 stops for the Lions.

Friday evening, Josh Paquette and Jamie Leffler scored two quick goals in the second period to bring the Lions to within 3-2, but St. Scholastica rallied with three unanswered goals for a 6-2 win.

Lukas Alberer made 24 stops (eight in each period) for Finlandia.

The Lions host first-place Milwaukee School of Engineering for two MCHA games this weekend at the Houghton County Arena. The Finlandia women host Lake Forest and Wisconsin-Stevens Point this weekend.