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.

MiCHO staffer's son learns from LSSU

Lake Superior State beat writer Mike Burrill's son, Trevor, participated in the "Have Fun, Play Hockey" clinic at Taffy Abel Arena last Wednesday night.

This was a clinic put on by LSSU, the CCHA and Fox Sports Net, who was there filming for an upcoming show. The clinic was a big success for all and the Laker players showed their usual professionalism and class dealing with the youngsters who aren't enrolled in a hockey program.

Mike noted that Trevor hasn't skated much lately, but players like Pat Aubry, Carter Lee, Brian Mahoney-Wilson (pictured above) and Rich Schofield really helped him out a lot. Even head coach Jim Roque helped him with his skates.

Trevor has already stated that he wants to learn more hockey and Mike said he'll start taking him skating more to get ready for next season.

MiCHO Power Poll 1.9.2007

A New Year and a new MiCHO Power Poll, but the top three spots remain the same.

The GLI-winning Michigan Wolverines are on the pinnacle again with a nearly flawless record of 18-2-0. The Wolverines are also ranked No. 1 nationally and are tied with Miami and Notre Dame for first place in the CCHA. The Maize and Blue have been idle since the GLI, except for a 5-1 exhibition win over the U.S. Under-18 team at Yost on Tuesday night.

Michigan State comes in the second spot after rebounding from a disappointing GLI by taking three of four points from Lake Superior State in East Lansing last weekend.

The Michigan Tech Huskies went on the road and swept Mercyhurst last weekend to move back to the .500 mark and hold on to the No. 3 spot in the Power Poll.

Complete Poll

1) Michigan, 18-2-0 (idle)
2) Michigan State, 13-5-3 (beat, tied LSSU)
3) Michigan Tech, 9-9-2 (swept Mercyhurst)
4) Ferris State, 9-8-1 (idle)
5) Northern Michigan, 9-12-1 (split with #8 ND)
6) Western Michigan, 6-13-0 (swept by UNO)
7) Lake Superior State, 2-12-4 (lost, tied #10 MSU)
8) Wayne State, 3-15-2 (swept at #16 Minnesota)

Each week, MichiganCollegeHockey.com editors Matt Mackinder and Tom Balog will compile the MiCHO Power Poll. The poll comprises the eight Division I teams in the state of Michigan.

CCHA on TV 1.9.08

Michigan tops Team USA Tuesday

By Matt Mackinder/Michigan Beat Writer

Michigan was outshot Tuesday night, but recorded a 5-1 exhibition victory over the United States National Under-18 Team in front of 4,966 spectators at Yost Arena.

Robbie Czarnik, a future Wolverine, chipped in a power-play goal for Team USA, assisted by another future U-M forward, David Wohlberg.

Brandon Naurato, Brian Lebler, Ben Winnett, Chad Kolarik and Max Pacioretty scored for Michigan.

In net, Bryan Hogan stopped 14 shots in 40 minutes of action, while Shawn Hunwick made 11 saves in one period of playing time.

"It was good to get back into a game," Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. "It was good to get back some of our players. I thought we got off to a good start. I thought we had a good second period, and then the game kind of deteriorated a little bit, but it is good to get some players more ice time. We did not play (Kevin) Porter's line or (Mark) Mitera much in the third period. We got Hunwick some game time. I hoped to come out of this game seeing some good things and avoiding injuries, and that is what we did.

"Overall, I would say it was what we expected."

The top-ranked Wolverines (18-2-0, 11-1-0 CCHA) will face Western Michigan in a home-and-home series this weekend. On Friday, U-M will host the Broncos at 7:35 at Yost. The following evening, Michigan will travel to Kalamazoo to complete the series at 8:05 p.m.

Broncos swept by UNO Mavericks

By Tom Morelli/WMU Beat Writer

Western Michigan faced a tough weekend to begin 2008, losing a weekend series to fellow CCHA team, Nebraska-Omaha.

In Saturday’s game, the Mavericks were running wild on their special teams units, which accounted for four of their six goals.

After a slim 1-0 margin at the end of the first period, Nebraska-Omaha upped their offensive tempo, scoring three goals in the middle stanza.

Not to be outdone, the Broncos were able to muster up a pair of goals in the second period. Sophomore Cam Watson scored near the midway point, with help from Patrick Galivan. Mike Lesperance narrowed the lead with an unassisted goal at 10:47.

Co-captain Jeff LoVecchio scored his seventh goal of the season on the power-play, which was sandwiched between two goals by the Mavericks.

Goaltender Riley Gill allowed six goals on 33 shots faced.

Sunday night appeared to be going the way of Western Michigan, as the Broncos played a flawless first period and grabbed an early lead.

Galivan scored at 8:14 of the opening period to give Western Michigan, followed by another just 35 seconds later.

The lead would disappear going into the following period, as Nebraska-Omaha awakened themselves offensively to garner a tie after 40 minutes of play.

Canton native Brandon Scero scored the game-winning goal for the Mavericks at 10:16 of the final period, and teammate Tomas Klempa registered an empty-net goal with three seconds remaining.

With the two losses, Western Michigan drops to 6-13-1 overall, and is currently second-to-last in the CCHA with a 2-10-0 record.

The Broncos will head to Ann Arbor for a Friday game with the University of Michigan, and then host the Wolverines the following night in Kalamazoo.

Michigan Tech sweeps Mercyhurst

by Andy Bourdeau/Michigan Tech Beat Writer

After playing in front of 17,000 at Joe Louis Arena, the Michigan Tech Huskies (9-9-2, 5-6-1) traveled to Erie, Pa., to play Mercyhurst in front of 600 and came away with two non-conference wins, 3-2 and 5-1. The Huskies were coming off a well-played Great Lakes Invitational, and were looking to continue with their momentum.

Tyler Shelast and Peter Rouleau (pictured below) continued their great play, notching two goals each on the weekend. Rouleau added a pair of helpers on the weekend as well.

Goals were scored by Shelast, Rouleau and Alex Gagne on Friday night. It was 1-1 after one, as Shelast started it off. Then Rouleau was able to get a power-play goal for the Huskies in the second, but they saw the Lakers tie the game shortly after. Then later in the second, Gagne scored the eventual game-winner on a nice deflection play.

The second game was not as close. Again Shelast started the scoring, and Mercyhurst answered, but after Jimmie Kerr's power-play goal late in the second, the Huskies did not look back. Rouleau added his second of the weekend, scoring Tech's first shorthanded goal of the year. MTU added two more in the final stanza, one from Derek Kitti and one from Ryan Angelow, to make the final score 5-1.

Rob Nolan was the starting goalie both nights, making 20 and 22 saves on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

MTU continues on the road this weekend, traveling to North Dakota to take on the Fighting Sioux.

No. 16 Minnesota sweeps Wayne State

By Tom Balog / Wayne State Beat Writer

The Wayne State Warriors losing streak reached a season high seven games after a 5-1 loss to the 16th-ranked Gophers on Friday night at the Mariucci Arena.

Jared Katz scored the lone goal for the Green and Gold, tying the score at one each at 10:41 of the first period.

Kyle Funkenhauser got the start in net but was mercifully lifted after surrendering four goals on 40 shots in just under 50 minutes of play. Fellow freshman Mike Devoney came into the game in relief for the final 10:03 and stopped 10 of 11 shots in his first collegiate action.

The Gophers opened the series finale with another four goal outburst and cruised to a 5-2 victory.

Mike Forgie (pictured) scored on the power play and Jordan Inglis notched an unassisted short-handed marker to finally get Wayne State on the board in the third period.

Forgie’s team high fifth goal was assisted by team points leader Jeff Caister and Brock Meadows.

Brett Bothwell started between the pipes for WSU, but was lifted after giving up four goals on 13 shots. Devoney mopped up for the second straight game and stopped 16 of 17 shots.

The pair losses stretched WSU’s winless skid to nine-games. The Warriors have not won since a 3-2 win at St. Lawrence on Nov. 23.

Wayne State will wraps up its nine-game road trip next weekend at Northern Michigan before returning home to face Niagara. The Jan. 18 game will be held at the Taylor SportsPlex, while the Jan. 19 contest will be the opening game of the College Hockey Faceoff at the Palace of Auburn Hills.