Lakers wrap up regular season at Northern Michigan

Lake Superior State, a team looking for momentum heading into the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Playoffs, closes out the regular season with a series at Northern Michigan, which is 11-3-2 since January. The Lakers (10-16-8 overall, 7-13-6-1 CCHA) play the Wildcats (12-15-5 overall, 9-12-5-3 CCHA) at 7:35 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at the Berry Events Center. Both games will be broadcast live on Rock 101 FM with web streaming on www.rock101.net. A top-eight finish in the CCHA standings and home ice for the first round of the playoffs are still possibilities for the Lakers, who are currently tied for 10th with Michigan State with 21 points. The scenario calls for LSSU to sweep NMU, third-ranked Michigan to sweep Ferris State, and Bowling Green to split with Western Michigan. LSSU appears to own the tie-breaker advantage against WMU, FSU and MSU. Notre Dame, Miami and Michigan have secured first-round byes. Fifth-place Ohio State trails fourth-place Alaska by three points. The Nanooks are playing a non-conference series this weekend and can’t pick up any more points, while OSU plays home-and-home against the RedHawks. Lake Superior State is playing back-to-back games in Marquette for the first time since October, 1997. When the teams met in Sault Ste. Marie in December, they tied 1-1 and 2-2, and the Wildcats won both shootouts. The Lakers are 1-5 in CCHA shootouts, while NMU is 3-2. Northern Michigan, which started out the season 2-9-1 in the CCHA, has climbed out of the league cellar to the middle of the pack. Last weekend, they took three points at seventh-ranked Miami despite getting out-shot in the series, 91-27. The return of junior goaltender Brian Stewart, who had both knees operated on last summer, has been a key to their recent success. When the Wildcats played the Lakers in December, they dressed on two walk-on goaltenders. LSSU split with Western Michigan last weekend, winning 7-4 Friday and losing 4-1 Saturday. Junior forward Zac MacVoy scored a goal in both games for the Lakers, while junior Nathan Perkovich and freshman Dan Barczuk had a goal and two assists each during Friday’s win. MacVoy has three goals during the Lakers’ last five games after enduring a seven-game scoring drought. He leads the team in goals scored with 12 and is third in points behind seniors Troy Schwab (9-17—26) and Josh Sim (10-14—24). Schwab and NMU points leader Gregor Hanson (10-16—26) are both tied for 16th in the CCHA in scoring. NMU’s Mark Olver (10-15—25) is tied for 19th, while Sim and Erik Gustafsson (2-22—24) are tied for 24th. Sophomore goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson played the final 10:32 of Friday’s game and the last 44:33 of Saturday’s game against the Broncos. He allowed one goal and totaled 19 saves during his first weekend of action since suffering an injury at Bowling Green State on Jan. 24.

Lakers Split

Goaltending, Goaltending, Goaltending... Lake Superior State University was unable to gain ground in the CCHA standing after splitting with Western Michigan University this weekend, despite a 7-4 win on Friday night. Friday night Lake Superior jumped out to a 6 goal lead in the first two periods with scoring three goals in each of the first two periods. Nathan Perkovich opened the scoring with an even strength goal at 2:58 of the first period with Pat Inglis and Dan Barczuk assisting. Barczuk added a goal of his own with Perkovich assisting less than 5 minutes later at 7:11 of the period. Josh Sim netted his 10th goal of the season at 12:04 of the period with Will Acton garnering the only assist his goal that gave the lakers a 3-0 lead after the end of the first period. Lake Superior continued the onslaught in the second period with Kyle Haines scoring 2:29 into the second period with Fred Cassiani and Troy Schwab assisting. Zac MacVoy netted his 11th goal of the season one minute later, on the power play, at 3:39 of the second period with Simon Gysbers and Cassiani assisting. The Lakers 4th goal chased Western Michigan Starting goaltender Riley Gill. Senior Carter Lee, playing in just his 10th game of the season, welcomed Western Michigan backup Jerry Kuhn, scoring his first goal of the season, just 33 seconds later with John Scrymgeour and Brad Cooper assisting. Following the second intermission in which LSSU had a 6-0 lead Western Michigan came out and scored 4 straight goals in under 10 minutes, prompting Laker head coach Jim Roque to pull LSSU starting goaltender Pat Inglis, replacing him with Brian Mahoney-Wilson seeing his first action since being injured on January 24th. Mahoney-Wilson stopped all 5 shots he faced while Chad Nehring netted an insurance goal for the Lakers at 10:09 to give LSSU he 7-to-4 win. Barczuk and Perkovich assisted on the Nehring goal. LSSU managed 37 shots in the game, while LSSU goaltender Pat Inglis recorded 13 saves in the first two periods of the game before allowing 4 goals on 7 shots in the 3rd period. Mahoney-Wilson stopped all 5 shots he faced in relief. WMU was 2-for-5 on the power while LSSU’s power play went 1-for-4. The Lakers didn’t fare as well on Senior Night Saturday as they did on Friday night, falling 4-to-1. Pat Inglis was pulled by for the second night in a row after giving up 2 goals after facing only 7 shots in the first 15:27 of the game. After 40 minutes of scoreless play the Broncos notched a power play goal, at 16:04, marking the first time Brian Mahoney-Wilson had been scored on in almost a month. Lake Superior’s Zac MacVoy scored for the Lakers after Manoney-Wilson was pulled in favor of the extra attacker at 17:08 of the third period. WMU netted an empty net goal with 59 seconds remaining to seal the 4-to-1 win. LSSU dominated in the shot department for the second night in a row recording 38 shots in the game, while Pat Inglis recorded only 5 saves on the 7 shots he faced. Mahoney-Wilson stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced in relief. WMU was 1-for-4, 3-for-9 for the weekend, on the power while LSSU’s power play went 0-for-4, 1-for-8 on the weekend.

Senior Night Saturday

Only one point separates Lake Superior State and Western Michigan heading into this weekend’s Central Collegiate Hockey Association series, which happens to be the Lakers’ final regular-season home series of the season. The Lakers (9-15-8 overall, 6-12-6-1 CCHA) play host to WMU (9-16-7 overall, 6-12-6-2 CCHA) at 7:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Taffy Abel Arena. Both games will be broadcast live on Rock 101 and simulcast on www.rock101.net. A pay-per-view video feed is available on the B2 Network. Only one shootout victory separates the ninth-place Broncos (9-16-7 overall, 6-12-6-2 CCHA) and 10th-place Lakers (9-15-8 overall, 6-12-6-1 CCHA). LSSU claimed a shootout victory over Bowling Green State, while WMU beat Nebraska-Omaha and Ferris State in shootouts. Mathematically, LSSU and WMU are among six schools that can still finish anywhere from sixth through 12th place in the CCHA standings. Many are predicting that home ice for the first round of the CCHA Playoffs will come down to the Lakers’ final regular-season game at Northern Michigan. Other schools involved in that mix are sixth-place UNO, which plays host to first-place Notre Dame, seventh-place Ferris State, which travels to Alaska, and eighth-place Northern Michigan, which travels to second-place Miami. Michigan State, which is tied for 10th with LSSU, plays a home-and-home series against 12th-place BGSU. Notre Dame and Miami have both clinched first-round byes in the CCHA Playoffs. LSSU will pay tribute to seniors Troy Schwab, Josh Sim, Carter Lee and Steve Oleksy following Saturday’s game. Schwab, the team’s points leader with 9-16—25, is one of only three LSSU players to have worn the “C” for two years and he is the first Laker in 11 years to reach the 100-point career scoring milestone. He is on track to lead the Lakers in assists for four straight seasons. Sim, who is the Lakers’ No. 2 scorer with 9-14—23 this season, has over 60 points during his career. He was the team’s co-leader in goals scored as a sophomore with 15. This season he has been a leader at both ends of the ice. He is second on the team in plus-minus at +9. That’s his best rating since he was +3 as a freshman. Lee, who played two seasons at LSSU after transferring from Northeastern, has seen limited playing time. He has contributed two assists in nine appearances. Oleksy, a transfer in his third season at LSSU, is having his best season so far with seven assists and a +3 rating.

Lakers Swept by Miami

Most hockey pundits Lake Superior State counted on the second half of the Lakers season to make or break their season, facing Michigan State, Michigan, and Miami on consecutive weekends. Back to back sweeps at the hands of Michigan and Miami have pushed LSSU into the bottom third and cemented LSSU in the bottom half of the CCHA standings. Upcoming series against Western and Northern will be huge for the Lakers with LSSU making a last push for home ice in the CCHA playoffs. Friday night sixth-ranked Miami out-scored Lake Superior State 2-1 in the first period, and the score held during Friday's Central Collegiate Hockey Association game at Taffy Abel Arena. Miami's Tommy Wingels and Vincent LoVerde scored even-strength goals at 14:57 and 17:18 of the opening period to give the RedHawks a 2-0 lead. During that 2:21 stretch, LSSU's Chad Nehring hit the post and Nathan Perkovich fired at Miami goaltender Cody Reichard from close range. LSSU's Dillin Stonehouse cut the RedHawks' lead in half by scoring on a shot from the point at 17:35. Josh Sim and Dan Barczuk had the assists. Lake Superior State (9-14-8 overall, 6-11-6-1 CCHA) was scoreless during its only two power-play chances, both of which occurred in the second period. Miami (17-8-4 overall, 15-5-3-1 CCHA) was 0-for-3 with the man advantage for the night. The Lakers were short-handed from 16:42 to 18:42 of the third period, and pulled goaltender Pat Inglis in favor of an extra attacker during the final minute. Inglis totaled 27 saves, including 12 in the third period. Reichard finished with 26 saves, inlcuding 10 in the third period. One of Reichard's best saves stopped a Laker line rush led by Perkovich and Steven Kaunisto late in the game. Saturday night Miami took advantage of a steady stream of whistles and kept Lake Superior State off-balance to win Saturday's Central Collegiate Hockey Association game, 4-0. The RedHawks (18-8-4 overall, 16-5-3-1 CCHA) extended their unbeaten streak to seven games with their fourth shutout victory of the season. They handed the Lakers (9-15-8 overall, 6-12-6-1 CCHA) their first shutout loss of the year. Miami took a 1-0 lead at 2:22 of the first period when a Laker defenseman inadvertently deflected a puck into LSSU's net. Carter Camper took the initial shot and was credited with the power-play goal. RedHawks Gary Steffes and Andy Miele scored second-period goals, and Bill Loupee made it 4-0 with an empty-net goal at 18:32 of the third period. Steffes and Miele both had a goal and an assist for the night. Miami was 2-for-8 on the power play, including 1-for-4 in the first period and 1-for-3 in the second. LSSU was 0-for-7 on the power play. LSSU goaltender Pat Inglis totaled 33 saves, while Miami's Connor Knapp had 27 saves while improving to 12-3-2.

Lakers home against Miami this Weekend

Two of Lake Superior State’s last three regular-season series are at home, and all will be tough tests as the Lakers continue their quest for a top-eight spot in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings. After this weekend’s series against Miami (16-8-4 overall, 14-5-3-1 CCHA), which is ranked in the top 10 in both national polls, the Lakers (9-13-8 overall, 6-10-6-1 CCHA) play host to Western Michigan and travel to Northern Michigan to close out the regular season. Ferris State and NMU are tied for seventh place with 23 points each, while LSSU is ninth with 19 points and leads 10th-place WMU by a mere point. Miami, which is second in the league standings with 32 points and trails first-place Notre Dame by four, is hoping to close the gap on the Fighting Irish during the final stretch of the regular season. Fourth-ranked Michigan snapped LSSU’s three-game win streak with a 6-2 victory last Friday at Yost Arena, and the Wolverines won 2-1 Saturday to sweep the series. Only Michigan and Nebraska-Omaha have swept the Lakers in 2008-09. LSSU fell to 1-9 in games decided by one goal. LSSU was 1-for-10 on the power play at Michigan, which leads the CCHA in penalty killing when playing league opponents. Miami is ranked second in the league in both power play and penalty killing, so the Lakers hope to play as much five-on-five hockey as possible. Against all opponents, Miami leads the CCHA in combined special teams, while LSSU is ranked eighth. Miami, which was idle last weekend, is 4-0-1 in its last five games, including 6-1 and 3-2 victories over Bowling Green State on Jan. 30-31. Miami sophomore forward Carter Camper leads the CCHA in points with 17-18—35, while teammate Pat Cannone, also a sophomore, is tied for sixth with 11-18—29. Camper and Cannone are ranked first and second in the CCHA in power-play points with a combined total 14-23—37. Miami’s top scorers may be underclassmen, but the team’s senior class is the winningest in school history with 99 victories. The RedHawks have two freshman goaltenders – Connor Knapp (1.90, .913) and Cody Reichard (2.31, .908). LSSU sophomore Rick Schofield continues to have the scoring touch for LSSU. He scored a goal against U-M last Friday to improve his point totals to 9-11—20 overall and 8-7—15 during the Lakers’ last 14 games. Junior forward Zac MacVoy, who leads the Lakers in scoring during the first half of the season, scored LSSU’s lone goal Saturday at U-M to snap a seven-game scoring drought. Junior goaltender Pat Inglis is 2-2 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .923 save percentage while filling in for injured netminder Brian Mahoney-Wilson. Overall, Inglis is 3-5-2 with a 2.64 gaa and .917 save percentage. Valentine’s Day Special: LSSU Concessions is offering a meal deal for couples attending Saturday’s hockey game. Anyone who purchases two tickets to the game will receive a coupon good for two hot subs, two sodas and two bags of chips for $12 – a $4 savings.

Lakers add 2009 OPJHL Div. MVP

Lake Superior State has received a verbal commitment from Oakville Ontario native Domenic Monardo from the Aurora Tigers of the Ontatio Junior Hockey League for the 2009 season. The 5'10, 180 pound forward has scored 39 goals and 79 points in 49 games this season to lead Aurora in scoring tying him for 16th in the league, to be named MVP of the OJHL’s Phillips Division. Monardo has rallied back to have a spectacular season this year for the Tigers after having his neck broken in a game early last season while playing for the Oakville Blades. Monardo’s broken neck kept him off the ice the remainder of the 2007-08 season, finishing the season with 8 goals and 17 points in 14 games. Prior to his injury shortened season Monardo had 14 goals and 34 points in 2006-07 for Oakville, and 12 goals and 23 points for Collingwood in 2005-06. http://www.oakvillebeaver.com/news/article/231333

Lakers Swept by Michigan

Friday night the University of Michigan scored a short-handed goal with six seconds remaining in the first period and tallied two more goals during the first two minutes of the second period to take control of the first game of this weekend's Central Collegiate Hockey Association series against Lake Superior State. Michigan (20-9-0 overall, 14-7-0-0 CCHA) scored three unanswered goals in the second period to take a 4-1 lead and went on to beat LSSU, 6-2, in front of 6,847 fans Friday at Yost Arena. It was the most goals given up by the Lakers this season. U-M's Matt Rust tallied the short-handed marker that tied the game, 1-1, late in the opening period and scored an even-strength goal at 2:54 of the third period. Louie Coporusso also scored twice for U-M to bring his season goal total to 22. Will Acton gave LSSU a 1-0 lead with an even-strength goal at 6:05 of the first period. Matt Cowie and Josh Sim were credited with the assists. It was Acton's third goal in four games. Laker Rick Schofield cut the lead to 5-2 with a power-play goal at 6:39 of the third period. Nathan Perkovich and Acton had the assists as Schofield increased his point total to 8-6--14 in the Lakers' last 11 games. Perkovich picked up his seventh point in four games. LSSU (9-12-8 overall, 6-9-6-1 CCHA) was 1-for-7 on the power play, while Michigan finished 1-for-3. LSSU goaltender Pat Inglis totaled 35 saves, including 14 in the second period and 13 in the third. U-M netminder Bryan Hogan had 19 saves. Saturday night Lake Superior State tightened its defense following Friday's four-goal loss to fourth-ranked Michigan, but the Wolverines also played a strong defensive game to win 2-1 Saturday at Yost Arena. Michigan swept the series and improved to 21-9-0 overall and 15-7-0 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. LSSU (9-13-8 overall, 6-10-6-1 in the CCHA) fell to 1-9 in games decided by one goal. Junior Zac MacVoy, who is currently third on the team in points, snapped his seven-game scoring drought and scored LSSU's only goal at 19:14 of the first period. Simon Gysbers was credited with the assist as the Lakers took a short-lived one-goal lead. Michigan tied it 18 seconds later with an even-strength goal by Carl Hagelin. U-M's Brian Lebler tallied the game winner at 6:25 of the second period. Aaron Palushaj assisted on both Michigan goals. LSSU was short-handed throughout most of the first five minutes and during the last 4 1/2 minutes of the third period. The Lakers were 0-for-3 on the power play and held Michigan scoreless on seven power-play chances. Pat Inglis totaled 29 saves for Lake Superior State. Winning goalie Bryan Hogan had 26 saves.

Lakers Play Michigan in Ann Arbor this Weekend

The Lake Superior State hockey team just completed its most-successful month of the season so far and will take a three-game win streak into this weekend’s series against fourth-ranked Michigan. LSSU (9-11-8 overall, 6-8-6-1 CCHA) plays Michigan (19-9-0 overall, 13-7-0-0 CCHA) at 7:35 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at Yost Arena. Both games will be broadcast live on Rock 101 and simulcast on www.rock101.net. Saturday’s game will be televised on Comcast 900 and the NHL Network (live in Canada and tape-delayed in the United States). The Lakers, who won 2-0 and 4-2 last weekend to sweep Michigan State for the first time since 1989, were 4-3-1 during the month of January. They are tied for eighth in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association with 19 points. It was also around this same time last season that they hit their stride, but they had only 10 points in league play heading into the final four weeks of the 2007-08 regular season. In 2008-09, they have nearly doubled their point total. LSSU is playing a talented opponent that has also steadily gained steam. Michigan is tied for fourth in the league standings with 26 points after splitting last weekend’s series with No. 1-ranked Notre Dame. The Wolverines are 10-2 in their last 12 games. Michigan, the only CCHA team that does not have a tie this season, is playing the team that leads the nation in tied games. Little else separates the Lakers and Wolverines statisically. U-M is ranked third in the league and LSSU fifth in goals-for, and the teams are fourth and sixth, respectively in goals-against. Michigan is sixth and LSSU eighth in power play, and they are fifth and seventh, respectively, in penalty killing. Michigan’s penalty killing rate has improved dramatically during its current streak of 25 straight penalty kills, including all seven against the Fighting Irish. LSSU will be looking to close the gap after getting outscored 19-7 during four losses to Michigan last season. U-M won 5-1 and 6-2 on Nov. 16-17, 2007, in Sault Ste. Marie, and won both games by a 4-2 count on Feb. 15-16, 2008, in Ann Arbor. Sophomore forward Rick Schofield and junior forward Zac MacVoy both had a goal and two assists to pace the Lakers last season against the Wolverines. Schofield was the CCHA’s fourth-leading scorer during the month of January with 6-5—11, and he has 7-6—13 in the Lakers’ last 10 games. He is also leading the Lakers in plus-minus at plus-16. Senior forward Troy Schwab recorded an assist during LSSU’s 2-0 victory over MSU last Friday, but his seven-game point streak came to an end on Saturday. He leads the Lakers and is tied for 11th in the CCHA in points with 9-16—25. Junior forward Nathan Perkovich has 3-3—6 during the Lakers’ last three games. Michigan sophomore forward Aaron Palushaj, with 9-24—33, is ranked second in the CCHA in points and leads the league in assists, and while sophomore forward Louie Caporusso, with 20-11—31, is ranked fourth in points and leads the league in goals scored. U-M sophomore goaltender Bryan Hogan is fourth in the CCHA in goals-against at 1.92 and eighth in save percentage at .917.

Lake Superior Sweeps Michigan State

Lake Superior State University was able to take advantage of a down Michigan State University team to take their first sweep of the Spartans since 1989. Friday night Lake Superior took a first period lead behind Tyson Hobbins’ second goal of the season, at 8:18, with Fred Cassiani and Troy Schwab assisting. Nathan Perkovich was able to add an insurance goal, shorthanded, at 15:06 of the second period with Matt Cowie assisting. LSSU goaltender Pat Inglis turned away all 20 Spartan shots he faced to record his first career shutout. While the Lakers put 32 shots on the Michigan State’s Jeff Lerg, the Spartans were 0-for-3 with the extra man, only mustering 1 shot, while LSSU’s power play went 0-for-2, with only 2 shots on goal. Saturday night Lake Superior’s fell into a 2 goal deficit in the first period with MSU scoring two special teams goal, Kurt Kivisto shorthanded at 13:34, and Matt Schepke at 19:08 on the power play 6 seconds after Josh Sim took a hooking penalty. LSSU was able to steal away the momentum from the Spartans with Steven Kaunisto scoring a power play goal, with just 30 seconds remaining in the period, with Perkovich and Brad Cooper assisting. Brad Cooper tied the game up for the Lakers with his second goal of the season at 11:27 of the second period with Schofield and Perkovich assisting. Lake Superior’s Will Acton was able to score what turned out to be the game winning goal at 17:41 of the period with Dillin Stonehouse and Schofield assisting. Nathan Perkovich was again able to add an insurance goal for the lakers on the power play, at 7:36 of the third period, with Cooper and Schofield assisting. LSSU managed only 39 shots in the game, while LSSU goaltender Pat Inglis recorded 36 saves to record his 3rd win of the season and second of the weekend. There were 18 penalties call on Saturday after only 7 where called on Friday night, MSU was 1-for-8 on the power play 1-for-11 on the weekend while LSSU’s power play went 2-for-8, 2-for-10 on the weekend.