Club hockey team sweeps Adrian in weekend series

Offense was not an issue for the CMU club hockey team as it scored 15 goals in its two-game weekend sweep of Adrian.

CMU beat Adrian 9-5 Saturday and 6-5 Friday in two much-needed wins as playoffs draw nearer.

Adrian scored first Saturday, but it was not long before CMU took control. It took a 2-1 lead into the second period, then added six goals.

“They jumped on us with the first goal,” said senior forward Jordan Jakubik, “but we came back and put them away with a good stream of goals in the second.”

Forwards Michael Lesnau (senior), Kyle Rowe (junior) and Dominic Braganini (sophomore) each scored two goals in the win.

Any momentum Adrian built in a comeback attempt was lost when CMU freshman goaltender Zach Silver stopped a breakaway with six minutes remaining. Two minutes later, Lesnau scored an empty-net goal from his knees to put the game away.

Senior Max Hawkins also scored Saturday, adding to his hat trick in the third period of Friday’s comeback win.

Friday

CMU was down 4-1 going into the third period Friday before assembling a five-goal spurt and winning 6-5.

The team closed the last four minutes of the game on the penalty kill, another aspect it has shown improvements on this weekend.

The team’s defense and goaltending saw its struggles in the two games, said Central coach Mike Jakubik.

“It really wasn’t much of a defensive weekend, and we’d like to see that aspect of our game improve,” he said. “Both goalies played comparable to each other, but still let in five goals apiece, a stat the team would like to see lowered to three or less.”

Silver got the start in net Saturday and sophomore Zak Knauss on Friday.

The team’s fourth line, made up of Hawkins, freshman Mike Coca and Braganini, led the team in scoring in the home-and-home series.

“Our secondary scoring really stepped up this weekend. We had a goal from all four lines and the fourth line led us in goals, which is nice to see,” Mike Jakubik said.

CMU (9-13-2-2) is ranked 12th, two spots out of the top 10, where it needs to finish to qualify for playoffs.

“We’re hoping if we win out, it’ll be enough for us to make playoffs,” Jordan Jakubik said.

“We needed this weekend for momentum leading into our next game. Hopefully the victories will bring some more excitement to the arena,” Mike Jakubik said. “We play better off a couple wins, and our confidence is back up now.”

CMU hosts Lake Superior State in a two-game weekend starting at 9 p.m. Friday and ending with a 9 p.m. game Saturday. Both games will be played at the Isabella County Events Arena.