LSSU adds to D-Line

Lake Superior State has another defenseman committed for next season with Commerce Township’s Kyle Pobur from South Shore of the Eastern Junior Hockey League giving a verbal commitment. The 5-foot 10 inch, 180lb, defenseman has put up 8 goals and 25 points in 45 games for South Shore this season, after posting 4 goals and 46 points last season.

Lakers Season Ends with Heartbreaking Overtime Loss.

After a mediocre start to the 2007-08 season, posting just two wins before Christmas, the Lakers where on a roll, losing just 2 of 11 games, heading into the CCHA playoffs in hopes of repeating last season’s run to the Joe. Friday night Lake Superior fell behind 0-3 in the first period before the Laker Steven Kaunisto scored two in the second period to pull the game to within one goal. Kaunisto’s first was scored at 8:53 of the second with Sac Macvoy recording his 17th assist and Rick Schofield his 8th on the goal. Kaunisto’s second goal, on the power play was assisted by Nathan Perkovich and Troy Schwab, with their 6th and 15th assists respectively. BGSU and LSSU swapped goals in the third period with the Flacon’s Todd McIlrath scoring the eventual game winning goal at 9:10, and Nathan Perkovich scoring his 16th of the season at 13:59, Schab and Kaunisto assisted on the Perkovich goal. LSSU starting goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson made 32 saves on the 36 shots he faced to record the loss. While Bowling Green goaltender Nick Eno made 20 saves on LSSU’s 23 shots for the win. LSSU went 1-for-5 on the power while BGSU was 0-for-4 with the extra man. Facing season ending elimination on Saturday night LSSU and BGSU skated to a scoreless first period, Lake Superior took a 3-0 lead in the second period with goals by Will Acton (4:59), Pat Aubry (7:50), and Simon Gysbers (8:51). Matt Cowie & Gysbers, Perkovich & Dillin Stonehouse, Justin Gutwald & Macvoy all recorded assists on the Lakers early barrage of goals. BGSU’s Jacob Cepis scored on the power play at 11:12, to bring the reel back the Lakers lead to 3-1. Gysbers was able to add his second goal of the game on the power play at 14:19 of the second period with MacVoy assisting. LSSU added two more goals in the third period with Acton scoring shorthanded at 9:19 aided by an assist by Perkovich. Dan Eves got in on the goal scoring with his 10th of the season at 13:39 with assists going to MacVoy and Schofield. LSSU goaltender Pat Inglis made 34 saves on the 35 shots he faced to record the win. While Bowling Green goaltender Nick Eno made 20 saves on 24 LSSU shots before being pulled following the second period. Backup Jimmy Spratt posted 6 saves on 8 shots in the third period. LSSU went 1-for-8 on the power while BGSU was 1-for-4 with the extra man. LSSU looked to pick up where they left off on Saturday night jumping out to a 1-0 lead on the back of Will Acton’s 6th goal of the season just 1:05 into the first period, Gysbers and Cowie assisted. BGSU tied the game at 1-1 on the powerplay at 6:03 of the period, slipping the game tying goal past LSSU goaltender Pat Inglis. LSSU put up two power play goals in the second period to gain a 3-1 lead over Bowling Green off of tallies by Schwab (6:15) and Perkovich (8:45) with Kaunisto & Acton, and Kaunisto and Schwab assisting. BGSU’s Derek Whitmore scored his first goal of the series at 12:02 of the second period to bring LSSU’s lead down to one. Facing elimination Bowling Green dominated the third period outshooting Lake State over 2-1, posting 19 shots on goal. With just three minutes remaining in the game Bowling Green was able to tie up the game at 3-3 with Todd McIlrath scoring his 4th goal of the season. Bowling Green’s Jacob Cepis put a the first shot of overtime past LSSU goaltender Pat Inglis just 26 seconds into overtime to tally the win for the Flacons, and bring the Lakers season to an end. LSSU’s Pat Inglis made 49 saves on the 53 shots he faced in the loss, to finish the season with a 4-10-4 record, BGSU’s Spratt recorded 29 saves 32 Laker shots. LSSU went 2-for-7 on the power play (4-for-20 on the weekend), while BGSU scored two power play goals on their 7 opportunities (going 3-for-15 on the weekend). Stay tuned to LSSUhockey.com throughout the offseason for all your Laker Hockey news.

LSSU heads back to SJHL to Land Defenseman

Lake Superior State has headed back to the SJHL to receive a verbal commitment from the Weyburn Red Wings defenseman Stephen Simms. The 6-foot, 190lb, left-hand shooting defenseman has put up 9 goals and 40 points in 58 games for Weyburn this season, after posting 10 goals and 37 points last season to be named to the SJHL All-Rookie Team.

Lakers travel to Bowling Green for CCHA First-Round Playoffs

Lake Superior State will take a four-game unbeaten streak into the first round of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Playoffs, which begin Friday when the Lakers play at Bowling Green State. No. 10 seed LSSU (9-18-7 overall, 7-15-6 CCHA) and No. 7 seed BGSU (16-18-0 overall, 13-15-0 CCHA) play a best-of-three series at 7:05 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and (if necessary) Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on Rock 101 FM and simulcast on www.lssulakers.com. Saturday’s game will be televised on Comcast. Tickets are $12 for reserve seats and $10 for general admission. They are available by calling the Bowling Green State ticket office, 419-372-0000. The Lakers lost 4-2 to the Falcons on Jan. 11 and won 4-1 on Jan. 12. Six different LSSU players scored goals during that regular-season split. Sophomore defenseman Simon Gysbers led LSSU in points with 1-3—4 and was named CCHA Defenseman of the Week. Freshman goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson was in net when the Lakers beat BGSU, while sophomore goalie Pat Inglis took the loss, giving up four goals on 23 shots. Since then, Inglis is 2-2-2 with a 2.76 gaa and .908 save percentage. For the season he is 3-9-4 with a 3.70 gaa and .877 save percentage. Mahoney-Wilson is 6-9-3 with a 2.94 gaa and .900 save percentage. LSSU points leaders heading into the playoffs are senior forward Dan Eves (9-15—24), sophomore forward Zac MacVoy (8-16—24), sophomore forward Nathan Perkovich (15-5—20), junior forward Troy Schwab (5-14—19) and freshman forward Rick Schofield (10-7—17). Schofield centers a line that includes Eves and Schofield, and the threesome has compiled 13 goals and 20 assists as the Lakers have gone 6-3-3 during their last 12 games. The Lakers avenged their early-season losses to Northern Michigan and ended the regular season with a 3-2 win and 2-2 tie against the Wildcats last week. The Falcons lost last weekend’s games to sixth-ranked Michigan State, 6-3 and 4-0. They are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games. Senior forward Derek Whitmore leads BGSU in points with 26-7—33, followed by freshman forward Jacob Cepis with 13-15—28. Whitmore and Miami’s Ryan Jones are the league’s co-leaders in goals scored against CCHA opponents with 23 each, while Cepis is tied for third in league scoring by a freshman. Freshman goaltender Nick Eno (11-8-0) has a 2.58 gaa and .913 save percentage overall for the season. The last time LSSU and BGSU met in the CCHA Playoffs was during the first round in 1999-00. The Falcons swept the series to improve to 9-6-0 all-time against LSSU in the playoffs. The teams met once in the CCHA title game with the Falcons winning 5-3 in 1988. BGSU coach Scott Paluch was the captain of the ’88 Falcon team. Other first-round matchups include Alaska at Nebraska-Omaha, Western Michigan at Ferris State and Ohio State at Northern Michigan. Top-four finishers Michigan, Miami, Michigan State and Notre Dame received first-round byes.

3 Points Not Enought to Maintain the Cappo Cup

Thursday night, Lake Superior State not only wowed the crowd by battling back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Northern Michigan 3-2 on Thursday, but left its fans with a six-game home unbeaten streak as a fond memory of the 2007-08 season. LSSU (9-18-6 overall, 7-15-5 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) has a season-best three-game winning streak heading into its final regular-season game at 7:35 p.m. Saturday at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. The Lakers are currently in sole possession of 10th place in the CCHA standings. They are two points ahead of 11th-place Ohio State, who has a single game remaining against Miami. The Wildcats (15-17-3 overall, 12-13-2 CCHA) entered the series in a four-way tie for fifth place and have already secured home ice for the first round of the CCHA Playoffs. At this point, there is a possibility that this weekend's series will be a preview of a playoff match-up between the same two teams. Regardless of what the future holds, the Lakers proved to be a much different team from when they lost 4-2 and 3-1 to the Wildcats in November. Despite falling behind 2-0 on second-period goals by NMU's Matt Siddall and Mark Olver, LSSU controlled play during the majority of the game. The Lakers' only down side was finishing 0-for-6 on the power play. Nathan Perkovich cut NMU's lead in half by tallying his 15th goal of the season at 18:46 of the second period -- 16 seconds after the Lakers killed off a penalty. John Scrymgeour and Jason Blain drew the assists. The line of Rick Schofield, Dan Eves and Zac MacVoy was responsible for the Lakers' next two goals. Eves tied it at 2:08 of the third period, and Schofield scored the game-winner at 15:54. It was Schofield's second game-winning goal in three games and the fourth straight game in which he has scored a goal. Eves now has 4-8--12 in his last 11 games, while MacVoy has 5-8--13. Seniors Eves, Blain and Justin Gutwald circled the Taffy Abel Arena ice following their final home game. LSSU goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson totaled 22 saves, while NMU goalie Brian Stewart had 23. The Wildcats pulled Stewart in favor of an extra attacker during the final 1:07 of regulation. NMU, which is 5-2-0 in its last seven games, finished 1-for-3 on the power play. LSSU was 5-2-2 during the month of February. Saturday night, Lake Superior State closed out the 2007-08 regular season with a 2-2 overtime tie at Northern Michigan on Saturday and will take a four-game unbeaten streak into next weekend's Central Collegiate Hockey Association first-round playoff series at Bowling Green State. The Lakers (9-18-7 overall, 7-15-6 CCHA) picked up three points during their season-ending series and finished 10th in the league standings. Ninth-place Alaska (8-16-4 CCHA) and LSSU tied in points with 20 each, but the Nanooks claimed the higher seed due to having one more CCHA win. Other first-round pairings include Western Michigan at Ferris State, Ohio State at Northern Michigan and Alaska at Nebraska-Omaha. NMU (15-17-4 overall, 12-13-4 CCHA) finished 2-1-1 against the Lakers this season and reclaimed the Cappo Cup after losing it last year to LSSU. The Wildcats won the total-goals series, 11-8. After scrambling back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 on Thursday, Lake Superior State staked a 2-0 lead over the Wildcats Saturday on second-period goals by Simon Gysbers and Troy Schwab. Gysbers scored a power-play goal at 7:10 on assists from Rick Schofield and Zac MacVoy. Schwab tallied his fifth goal of the season at 9:38 as Will Acton and Nathan Perkovich drew assists. NMU's Matt Siddall cut the lead in half with a power-play goal at 5:33 of the third period, and Wildcat Billy Smith tied it at 7:52. Erik Gustafsson had assists on both NMU goals. LSSU goaltender Pat Inglis totaled 29 saves, including 11 in the third period and two in overtime. NMU netminder Brian Stewart had 32 saves, including 16 in the third period. The Lakers were 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Wildcats were 1-for-5. With the Lakers finishing the season with 20 points LSSU finished 10th in the CCHA this season, next weekend LSSU will travel to Bowling Green, Ohio to take on the BGSU Falcons.