BY WENDI REARDON
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The Boys Varsity Hockey team faced off with Brighton and Cranbrook in Cranbrook’s Annual Thanksgiving Tournament. They beat Brighton 4-1, but came up short against Cranbrook 2-3.
Less than five minutes into the first period against Brighton, Nov. 23, Clarkston’s Cole Shaffer scored the first goal, with assistance from teammates David Morin and Matt Campbell.
In the second period, the Wolves scored two more points, the first with 9:51 on the scoreboard by Adam Frank, assisted by Tyler Frakes and Campbell.
The second goal was made with less than five minutes left in the period. Frakes passed the puck to Campbell, who hit it into the net and put Brighton three points behind.
In the third period, Brighton scored their one goal with five minutes left in the game. The goal was made by Dettrick Pierzinski with help from Shane Calmeyn.
With 20 seconds left, Jeff Thomson passed the puck to David Cannons. From just the other side of the red line, Cannons shot one more goal into the net.
Clarkston goalie Garrett Knappe saved 34 of Brighton’s 35 shots on goal. Brighton goalie Eric Lipon saved 22 of Clarkston’s 26 shots on goal.
On Saturday, Clarkston continued in the tournament, going up against Cranbrook Kingswood.
With a drop of puck, the Wolves did not mess around as they swept towards Cranbrook’s goal, but during the first period, Cranbrook kept the puck mostly in Clarkston’s territory. The first and second periods ended with the score 0-0.
Thirty-two seconds into the third period, Cranbrook’s Gregg Leonardo scored the first goal for his team. Two minutes later, Leonardo struck again as he hit another puck past Knappe, bringing the score 0-2.
Cranbrook made one more goal with seven minutes left in the third period. The goal was made by Chris Harnadek.
With 1:57 left in the last period, Clarkston made their first goal, by Adam Frank with assistance from Tyler Frake and Aaron Podbielski.
Less than 30 seconds later, Michael Fitney made one more goal for the Wolves during a power play. Nick Posawitz and Frank helped.
Efforts to score one more goal to force overtime came up short, and they lost 2-3.
‘We did well the first two periods. Third period, we beat ourselves and gave it away. We didn’t come out and play the way we should,? said Clarkston coach Bryan Krygier. ‘We had a little bit of a let down. They capitalized on our mistakes and there’s no way of coming back. We had an opportunity to come back but when it’s all said and done, we ran out of time.?
With the next game on Thursday, Krygier already had some ideas on where to focus.
‘We can’t stray, we’ve got to be methodical and we’ve got to be consistent every period,? he said. ‘So coming to Mott, we need to make sure first, second, third period are pretty much constant and even.?
The team also needs to make more shots on goal for more chances to score. In the game against Cranbrook, the Wolves made 15 shots on goal while Cranbrook made 37.
The Wolves will play their first home game Thursday, Nov. 29, against Waterford Mott High School. The game will begin at 6 p.m. at Detroit Skate Center, 888 Denison Court in Bloomfield Hills.
On Saturday, Dec. 1, the Wolves will play Waterford Kettering High School at 1:20 p.m. at 7330 Highland Road in Waterford.