Lakers earn first CCHA win

By Mike Burrill/Lake Superior State Beat Writer

The Lake Superior State Lakers earned their first CCHA victory of the season Saturday night with a 4-1 win over visiting Bowling Green.

Sophomore defenseman Simon Gysbers was the No. 1 star of the game, scoring one goal and adding three assists.

Lake State did most of its scoring in the first period. Gysbers started things off when he ripped a shot that found the back of the net on a goal set-up by Chad Nehring and John Scrymgeour.

Senior Dan Eaves scored a power-play goal for the Lakers assisted by Gysbers and Zac MacVoy to give them a 2-0 lead over the Falcons.

Freshman Rick Schofield finished off the first-period scoring with a power-play goal of his own. Gysbers and Matt Cowie drew assists.

Bowling Green scored the only goal of the second period, but the Lakers maintained control and freshman netminder Brian Mahoney-Wilson was outstanding.

Lake State (3-13-4 1-10-3 CCHA) was able to hold off BGSU in the final stanza, including multiple penalty killings, and Gysbers ended his night setting up MacZoy with an empty-netter with 33 seconds left in the game. Mahoney-Wilson made 21 saves on the night, including 14 in the third period. The Lakers played well for the full 60 minutes and were able to slow down the Falcons offense.

On Friday night, the Lakers had too many giveaways in their own zone, causing them to lose 4-2 to Bowling Green.

The Lakers scored early, with a power-play goal by Nathan Perkovich assisted by Troy Schwab and Steve Kaunisto. They were then able to re-take the lead in the third with Pat Aubry's first goal of the season on a nice play by Scrymgeour and Nehring. Pat Inglis was in net, stopping 19 shots, but didn't get much help in front of the net at times.

The Lakers are off to Miami, Ohio, next weekend to take on the second-ranked Red Hawks.