By Don Finn, Special to The Review
Question: will the Lake Orion-Clarkston state playoff game match the hype?
The rival schools split their two games in the regular season, with standing room only. And they share the same home ice arena, with locker rooms adjacent to each other.
Answer: Absolutely.
The young Dragons did not disappoint the loyal crowd of students, faculty members and community supporters.
The icer’s came out on fire in the first period with a solid game plan and a laser like focus on the mission at hand. They took control of the play from the opening face off, winning the battles on the boards and moving the puck to each other seamlessly around the ice and capitalizing on their scoring chances finishing the first period ahead, 2-0.
Junior defenseman and Captain Danny Blascak got things started for the Dragons when he scored on a rocket of a wrist shot that hit the traffic in front of the Clarkston goalie before finding the back of the net.
The goal ignited the crowd, especially those students who painted their chests green and white and spelled out B-L-A-S-C-A-K. Feeding the puck to Blascak and earning an assists on the power play goal were Shane Stockwell and Elliott Rinke.
The Dragon’s then got what proved to be the winner from Jessie Cameron, as he banged home a rebound midway through the period. Cameron’s goal, with assists from Nick Balavich and Zarchary Koonce, was also on the power play.
Coach Cherry changed up the power play scheme about two weeks ago and devoted a large amount of practice time to improving the execution.
‘Special teams, power play and penalty killing take on added significance in the playoffs, we knew we had to be sharp with and without the puck,? Cherry said.
It is a good thing the Dragons worked on their penalty killing in practice, as the third period saw them need to use all they learned three times.
Clarkston scored their lone goal at the end of the first penalty of the period. The Dragons then killed off the final two penalties of the period and goaltender Shawn Horton stopped 18 Clarkston shots in the period.
The final buzzer sounded as Horton finished making a brilliant save from point blank range on another frustrated Wolf.
The players poured onto the ice, jubilant they had taken the season series from Clarkston two games to one, and knowing they would be playing for a Regional Championship on the weekend.
Saturday’s Regional Championship match up pitted the Dragons against an experienced Utica Eisenhower team.
Ike came into the game sporting a 21-5 record amassed by their 16 seniors. However, the young Dragons had come to far and gained to much confidence to be intimidated by the Ike experience.
Dragons opened the first period, taking the game to the Eagles and swarming their end getting six shots on goal in the first half of the period. The momentum soon changed as the referees called Lake Orion for five penalties. Dragon penalty killers did their job effectively and efficiently, allowing few shots to get to the net and no goals.
The period ended with the teams deadlocked 0-0.
The Dragons started the second period determined to get on the board first as they applied pressure all over the ice. They were soon rewarded as Cameron banged home a rebound sending the sold out crowd into a frenzy. Drawing assists on the play were Andrew Vanek and Stockwell.
With the momentum of the lead and a looming upset Regional Championship, the Dragons came out breathing fire in the third.
They peppered the Ike goalie with 12 shots, continuing to out shoot the Eagles for the game.
Eisenhower, however, scored their game tying goal with only seven seconds left on the only Lake Orion penalty of the period. While the Dragons seemed to carry the play and out shooting the Eagles, 29-22, the third stanza ended regulation with the teams tied 1-1.
Often these types of games end on a lucky bounce and this time was no different. After the Dragons narrowly missed on a scoring opportunity, the Eagles brought the puck down the ice.
The defenseman did his job, forcing the puck carrier wide and deep into the Lake Orion corner. The player continued to carry the puck behind the net and come out in front as all of his teammates were covered.
Just as that happened, a Lake Orion defenseman slid across to block the shot and Horton moved across the crease to play the angle perfectly.
Then ‘the bounce? occurred. As the Ike player shot, the puck hit the leg of the defenseman, popped up into the air and as if in slow motion, went up and over Horton and rolled into the net. That quickly brought the Dragons season came to an end.
While not ending the game as they would have wanted, seniors Corey Hodge, Shane Pettit and Ryan Liddicoat and the rest of the Dragons can hold their heads high, accomplishing more than many thought they could.
The Dragon’s want to thank all of the fans in the community who supported them this year. Next year will come soon and the young Dragon’s will want to build on the success they achieved this year.