Hockey splits with Robert Morris
Kyle Schafer
Issue date: 11/25/08 Section: Sports
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On Friday morning, the Wolves woke up to find themselves ranked 13th, having fallen a spot, from their previous ranking. Later that evening, they would face off against Chicago-based Robert Morris College. The Eagles, ranked 16th in the country, brought a defense-first, and strong goaltending team into Dearborn, looking to spring a small upset.
Friday night's game opened right away with UM-D striking first.
That's how quick the first marker of the contest was scored. After winning the faceoff, freshman, Brandon Contratto, found sophomore, Steve Popp, on a break to the net, and he netted his ninth goal of the season, just 13 seconds into the game.
Michigan - Dearborn extended the lead over Robert Morris early, when Michael Macari tipped in a rebound from a Kahlin Dawson shot from the blue line, to go up 2-0, just 3:55 into the game. Three minutes later, RMC's Shawn Shufelt scored a powerplay goal, to make it 2-1.
After 10 minutes of back-and-forth play, with both teams receiving scoring chances and powerplay minutes, Popp found Adam Stoner for a goal, to put the Wolves up 3-1, with just over two to play.
In the second, ACHA points leader, James Telfer, caught a Michael Macari pass, and put it by Eagles' starting goaltender, Dan Venet, on the power play, for the 4-1 lead.
Later in the period, with 12:00 to play, and UM-D on the power play again, Wolves goaltender, Stephen Yu, attempted a long pass to a streaking forward. The pass was intercepted by an Eagle, with Yu caught 15 feet out of net. But, Yu played him out of an easy empty-netter, and into just missing the far goalpost, to retain the three goal lead.
Dearborn would need the three goal lead, however, as Robert Morris proceeded to make things a whole lot closer, in the third period. Almost as quickly as Popp scored a goal in the first period, Eagles' captain, Ross Lane, notched a marker, only 26 seconds into the frame, when the puck took an unfortunate bounce, and was knocked into the goal.
With the lead standing at two, the Wolves needed to clamp down, defensively. This didn't happen immediately, however, as at 12:42 Shufelt put in his second goal of the game to make it 4-3.
At that point, UM-D played solid defense, and Stephen Yu shut the door. When Robert Morris pulled Venet for the extra attacker Macari found the empty net for his second goal of the game to put it away, 5-3.
Commenting on Yu's performance, after the game, head coach, Dave Debol, said, "I thought Yu played tremendous," adding, "he won that game for us."
Saturday night's game did not start the way Dearborn would have hoped. After 15 minutes of play, the Wolves found themselves down 3-0, thanks in part to Eriks Ozollapa's two goals, and Lane's three assists.
With just over half a minute left in the period, Telfer found Macari for the Wolves' first goal of the game. Going into the break, down 3-1, UM-D needed to regroup and come out in the second a different team.
In the second, the Wolves came out with a different pace in their step, clamping down on defense, and playing solid hockey. They created many scoring chances, but Venet was equal to the task. He held Michigan - Dearborn to just one goal - an Adam Stoner powerplay goal, set up by Macari and Telfer.
Freshman defenseman, Mark Bekkala stated on the defensive effort, "We've been working a lot in practice, and if we keep playing like this…we'll win a lot of games."
Both teams played strong hockey in the third, keeping each other off the scoreboard. UM-D had a few 5-on-3 opportunities, but Venet stood on his head to keep the puck out of the net. When the horn sounded, Robert Morris had come out with a 3-2 victory.
After the game, Yu, speaking about the weekend as a whole, stated, "It was unfortunate we didn't come up with two wins."
"We haven't had the best record, as of late."
Stoner also weighed in, "It would have been nice to pull out two wins over the weekend, but we just couldn't pull it off."
The line of Stoner, Contratto, and Popp has stepped up its game, over the last month, and is become a formidable threat, to buffer the Macari/Telfer/Rini line.
Speaking about the success as of late Stoner stated, "…we came into our own during the Ohio games. Contratto's getting in front of the net, and popping them in." The pun was likely not intended.
Next weekend, the University of Michigan - Dearborn hosts its annual "Holiday Classic". They have been hosting this tournament, formerly the "East/West Classic", in some form or another, for over 20 years.
On the docket for the Wolves, in "the Classic", are #9 Central Oklahoma on Friday night, Michigan State on Saturday night, and defending D-II champions, Davenport, on Sunday afternoon.
About the teams, coach Debol says, "It's gonna be tough." Bekkala added, "This weekend coming up is a big test. We need to come out with three wins, and get back some respect."
Central Oklahoma is one of only two teams to defeat #1 Illinois, this season. Michigan State, despite a 7-6 record in division II, regularly plays a very tough schedule, including several top D-I teams, and should not be overlooked. As previously mentioned, Davenport is the D-II defending champions, with a record of 19-1, this year.
All three games are sure to be tough tests, but if this is a top five team, they can prove it this weekend. The team hopes that you can find some time between turkey and shopping for Wiis to make it down to the rink for a game or two or three.
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