College hockey recap (week of Oct. 17-23)

 

By Jonathan Cochran –

Here’s how the Michigan schools fared in this past weekend’s D-I college hockey action.

Note: Western Michigan did not play this week. The Broncos play Denver on Friday to start their road series.

 

Spartans swept in first two home games

MSU lost a close one in their home opener, falling to Denver 2-1 on Friday at Munn Arena.

The game was scoreless heading into the third period. Ed Minney had a solid showing for the Spartans, making 24 saves including 11 in each of the first two periods.

Denver opened the scoring with 5:33 left in the game off a wrist shot from the left circle from freshman Henrik Borgstrom.

Two minutes later the Pioneers extended their lead with a goal from sophomore Jarid Lukosevicius.

The Spartans responded in exciting fashion with a goal during a 6-on-4 advantage with Minney pulled and just over a minute left to go in the game. Freshman Patrick Khodorenko got the goal as a result of a perfect feed from sophomore Mason Appleton.

With Minney still pulled, the Spartans had a few more chances in the last minute, but the Pioneers were able to hold on for the victory.

Michigan State continued to struggle in finding the back of the net on Saturday, as they lost to Denver 3-1, getting swept by the Pioneers at home.

Denver’s Troy Terry scored a pair of goals in the first period. The Spartans did not answer until late in the final frame with a goal from Appleton, his first of the season.

MSU’s late game surge wasn’t enough and Denver’s senior Matt Marcinew got an empty net goal with about a minute left to give the game its final score.

Freshman John Lethemon made 23 saves for the Spartans.

 

Bulldogs, Wildcats square off in Big Rapids

Ferris State lost to Northern Michigan 6-4 on Friday night at the Ewigleben Ice Arena.

The loss came for the Bulldogs despite scoring four goals in the first period. Sophomore Corey Mackin scored twice and freshman Craig Pefley and senior Chad McDonald each got goals of their own in the opening period of the game. Northern’s Darien Craighead and Collin Peters each scored goals in first to make the game 4-2 heading into the second.

That would conclude Ferris State’s scoring for the night.

Northern’s Filip Starzynski scored the lone goal of the second period to make it 4-3.

Luke Voltin and Denver Pierce each got goals in the final period and Darien Craighead got his second of the night to give the game its final 6-4 score.

Ferris State sophomore Darren Smith made 16 saves on 22 shots, while Northern’s Atte Tolvanen made 21 saves to earn the victory.

Scoring didn’t come as easy for either team in the 2-2 tie on Saturday that ended with the Bulldogs winning a shootout.

Sophomore Trevor Recktenwald got his first of the season to open the scoring five minutes into the second period.

Seven minutes later the Wildcats responded with a goal from Rylan Yaremko to tie it up, his first at the college level.

Taylor Fernandez got his first collegiate goal to give the Bulldogs the lead near the start of the third period. Robbie Payne potted his fourth of the year at 12:34 of the third period to tie the game up.

Both overtime periods were fruitless for both teams. Ferris State had to kill off two penalties during overtime to send the game to a shootout, where Craig Pefley was the only one to score.

Smith made an impressive 40 saves on the night for Ferris State.

 

Lakers sweep Chargers in away series

Lake Superior State traveled to Alabama-Huntsville Friday night and topped the Chargers 6-3.

Sophomore Diego Cuglietta and freshman Braydon Gelsinger each had two goal nights to propel the Lakers to victory.

Gelsinger opened the scoring for the Lakers just over a minute into the opening period. Gage Torrel added to the lead with a goal of his own at the midway point of the first.

The Chargers cut the Lakers’ lead to one in the second with a goal from Josh Kestner. Gelsinger got his second of the night 2:10 later to regain Lake Superior State’s two goal lead. Later in the period Cuglietta got both of his goals, including one that was shorthanded. J.T. Henke got a goal of his own late in the second to put the Lakers up 6-1 going into the third.

Charger goals from Jordan Larson and Brandon Salerno in the third period were not enough and the Lakers hung on to win the game.

Gordon Defiel made 28 saves for the Lakers.

Lake Superior State’s offense kept rolling with a 5-2 win over Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday, sweeping the Chargers on the road.

Alabama-Huntsville opened the scoring in the first with a goal from Max McHugh, his fourth of the season.

LSSU tied it up with a goal from Anthony Nellis eight minutes later on the power play. Freshman Bryan Basilico scored his first at the college level with five minutes to go in the period to put the Lakers on top heading into the second.

The Lakers quickly extended their lead with a goal from Mitch Hults just over a minute into the second period. Nellis got his second of the night with 5:40 left in the period to give the Lakers a dominant 4-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.

McHugh got his second of the night for the Chargers near the start of the third period, giving the game a 4-2 score that would stay that way for most of the remainder of the game.

Cuglietta got the final goal of the game with just 1:51 left to make it 5-2 in favor of the Lakers.

Defiel made 18 saves to earn his fourth win of the season for the Lakers.

 

Michigan gets win and tie in series with Huskies

Michigan defeated Michigan Tech 4-3 at Yost Ice Arena on Friday night.

Will Lockwood was the Wolverine hero, scoring the go-ahead goal for Michigan with just 52 seconds left in the game.

Jake Slaker opened the scoring for the Wolverines midway through the first which would be the only goal of the period.

Michigan doubled its lead with a goal from Tony Calderone at the beginning of the second period. This deficit was cut in half when Tech’s Alex Gillies scored shorthanded off a miscue by Michigan.

Slaker opened the scoring of the third period by getting his second of the night five minutes into the last 20 of the game. The Huskies answered with goals from Alex Smith and Reid Sturos to tie the game 3-3.

Hayden Lavigne registered 31 saves en route to his second straight win.

Saturday’s game was even closer as Michigan and Tech tied 3-3. Both teams were unable to score in the overtime period.

Michigan’s Jack LaFontaine salvaged the tie with 42 saves in his second start of the season. Tech’s Matt Wintjes had to make just 15 saves.

The game was tied going into the second after goals from Michigan’s Lockwood and Tech’s Michal Neville.

Alex Kile’s first of the season in the second period gave Michigan a narrow one point lead heading into the last 20 minutes of play.

Goals from Chris Leibinger and Thomas Beretta gave the Huskies their first lead of the game midway through the third period.

With 4:10 left on the clock, Cutler Martin got a timely first goal of the season to give the game its final 3-3 score.