Are the Lakers for Real?

After an uneventful first period the Lakers fell behind 1:08 into the second period on a goal by WMU's Jeff Pierce. Jason Miller seemed to tie the game 22 seconds later but the goal was disallowed after the referee, Kevin Hall, had a conversation with the goal judge. The Lakers where able to vindicate their called back goal with Troy Schwab putting in a power play goal at 12:06 of the second period, with assists going to Trent Campbell and Matt Restoule. Colin Nicholson came close to giving the Lakers the lead in the closing seconds of the second period, only to see his shot rattle off the WMU crossbar. The Lakers took the lead with Dominic Osman knocking in a rebound at 12:18 of the third period, after a shot by Nathan Ward, with the other assist going to Jeff Rainville. Colin Nicholson added an insurance goal with a shot off the cross bar at 17:11 of the third period with assists going to Matt Restoule and Ren Fauci. The win is undoubtedly the biggest win for the Lakers since the 1999-2000 season. They where able to show that Friday’s game was not a fluke and that they have the ability to put away a team, hold a lead, and not just play to the level of their opponent as they have seemed to do for many years. The momentum gained from this season has the potential to vault this Lakers team to the top half of the CCHA. This game marks the first time this season that the Lakers have been outshot by their opponent, 32-30. The Lakers last series sweep was October 18-19, 2002 against Mercyhurst, their last CCHA sweep came January 1-2, 2001 against Notre Dame. Next weekend against Miami looms large, with the Lakers riding high after dominating the Broncos. Miami is undefeated in the CCHA, with their only loss of the season coming against a highly ranked North Dakota team.