Given the same assignment as last season, Clarkston’s hockey team responded in nearly the same manner.
The Wolves (8-15-3) were charged with taking on state-power Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in the pre-regional final at Detroit Skating Club last Thursday. And like last season, the Wolves kept it close, but left with a season-ending 4-3 loss.
St. Mary’s (12-9-5) failed to clear the puck out of their zone late in the first period and Clarkston’s Jeremy Voelker made them pay for it. He slammed home a rebound off a shot by Eric Salo.
Eaglets coach Brian Klanow preached patience to his team during the first intermission, with St. Mary’s trailing 1-0.
‘I told them to settle down. Their goalie made some good saves and sometimes you run into that. It was just going to be a matter of time, we were just shelling them,? Klanow said.
The eighth-ranked Eaglets scored three goals in the second period. Less than two minutes into the period, Jon Falvo’s wrist shot from the blue line went through a host of players in front of Clarkston netminder Garrett Knappe, for a goal. Less than a minute-and-a-half later, Charlie Semaan added the go-ahead goal.
Blake Schmidt caught Eaglets? goalie Joseph Savona out of position with 7:54 left in the second, tying the game at 2-2. Matt Campbell gave Clarkston another quality chance two minutes later, intercepting a St. Mary’s pass at mid-ice and just missed Adam Frank in front of the net for a one-timer.
Kasper Bryniczka put the Eaglets up 3-2, taking a quick pass from Brandon Kozlowski for a goal with 4:13 left in the period.
Steve Tallman scored the eventual game-winner, beating Knappe from the left-faceoff circle. The shot ricocheted off Knappe’s right leg pad, off his back and in the net with 13:21 left in the third period.
After the Wolves pulled Knappe out of net with less than two minutes remaining, Ryan Kenerson pulled Clarkston again within one goal with 1:34 left in the game.
Klanow noted the drastic difference between the playoff game and the early-February meeting at OLSM, where the Eaglets invoked the mercy rule in an 8-0 drubbing.
‘Clarkston came in with a game-plan. They played well. It’s a weird game when you’re down there and all of a sudden the puck turns over, you don’t know what to do because we were so offensive,? Klanow said.
‘We knew they were going to be a different team and they came out and played with a lot of emotion.?
Clarkston coach Bryan Krygier said the Wolves played up to the competition of the top-10 state-ranked Eaglets.
‘They played up and we didn’t have anything to lose and they left everything on the ice. We gave it all we had and we made sure we worked exceptionally hard. We got good goaltending and we put the puck in the net. We got shots and we capitalized on a couple of our shots,? he said.
Clarkston employed a containment strategy against St. Mary’s with decent success.
‘We slowed down their momentum and forced them to dump the puck in on us. We capitalized on a couple opportunities and we made a run of it, we did the best we could. They’re a good team and it’s hard to play against them.?
For much of the game, Clarkston dumped the puck from its zone to stave off the Eaglets? attack.
‘The way I looked at it was, if the puck’s not in our zone, they’re not going to score on us. Whatever it takes to get the puck out of our zone, do it.?
Last Tuesday, Clarkston dropped Bloomfield Unified 6-5 in overtime in the opening round of the pre-regional hockey playoffs at Detroit Skating Club. The Wolves, trailing 4-2 after two periods, came back to take a 5-4 lead before the Chargers tied with 5:00 remaining.
Eric Salo, coming off a 10-minute misconduct penalty, scored the game-winner with 3:00 left in the extra session, scoring off his own rebound.
‘He was the only one with fresh legs, everyone else was dead tired,? Clarkston coach Bryan Krygier said.
‘We played down to their level. Things were not going well the whole game,? Krygier said.
‘We fought back and didn’t let them beat us. We worked hard and finally the breaks went our way.? Krygier said.