The Brandon varsity hockey team clinched their second straight Flint Metro League championship with a flourish.
Kyle Doan scored four goals and two assists, and Brandon Newman added three goals and five assists as the Blackhawks defeated the visiting Mustangs 11-3 Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Polar Palace in Lapeer. Brandon improved to 12-7 overall and 9-0 in the Flint Metro League.
Doan and Newman had plenty of company in the scoring department. Matt Cinader added one goal and six assists, while Chris Nelson added one goal and one assist, and Blake McLelland and Aric Bekaert one goal apiece.
After the game, the Blackhawks invited youngsters to skate the ice with the team. Brandon coach Tim Stone reported there was a good turnout of youngsters to skate with the team.
Doan got the Blackhawks off to a 2-0 lead by scoring with 7:26 left in the first period and then again with 4:55 left in the period. However, Clio’s Trevor Carpenter answered by scoring with 4:45 left in the first and again with two seconds left in the period to tie the game at two.
From that point on, it was all Blackhawks, as they scored five goals in the second period. Newman accounted for two of those goals, while Cinader, McLelland and Doan scored the other goals in the second for the Blackhawks.
Three days earlier, Brandon’s special team play worked to their advantage in a Flint Metro game against Lapeer East.
The Blackhawks scored two power-play goals, including the eventual game-winner, as they earned a 4-3 win against the Eagles at the Polar Palace.
The Eagles got on the scoreboard first with 5:22 left in the first, as Andrew Van Dagen scored to put East up 1-0. However, Doan answered with 10:31 left in the second on an even-strength goal to tie the contest at one.
Brandon then capitalized on a hooking penalty against Van Dagen with 8:32 left in the second. Just six seconds later, Cinader lit the lamp to put the Blackhawks up 2-1.
The two teams traded goals in the second period as Brandon maintained a 3-2 lead at the end of the period.
The Blackhawks then capitalized on a two-man advantage in the third period, as Doan fed Newman for a power-play goal to give the Blackhawks a 4-2 lead with 4:55 left in the third. Brandon then held off the Eagles, despite a goal by the Eagles? Kraig Hizelberger with 1:08 left in the third.