Division II hockey defeats Northwestern for first win of season
CMU beats Northwestern 7-3 at home
Junior forward Justin McComas celebrates after scoring a goal on Nov. 3 at Morey Courts.
Central Michigan Division II hockey won its first game of the season, 7-3 against Northwestern Friday night at the Isabella Recreation Arena.
The Chippewas were led behind five combined goals from captain Kyle Chapman and assistant captain Justin McComas.
The contest started out fast as the Chippewas scored on their fourth shot with a deflection from Chapman in the first two minutes of the game. Chapman ended the game with two goals to lift his total to four on the season.
The Chippewas were unable to keep their lead as Northwestern center Nick Nelson scored with 14 minutes left. The puck went off of goalie Jack Valentine’s glove and ended up in the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
CMU took the lead with five minutes left when Chapman scored a backhanded goal.
“Kyle stepped it up," said head coach Brian Knopp. "He's a great defenseman and he was skating great with the puck."
Seven seconds later, forward Brett Bouck received the puck off the faceoff and shot a far shot from the blue line to give the Chippewas their third goal.
The first period ended in favor of the Chippewa’s 3-1.
At the start of the second period, Nelson got his second goal to pull Northwestern with in one and make it 3-2. Within minutes ,CMU scored again to make it 4-2.
Forward McComas scored three goals in the second period and ended the game with a hat trick. His second goal was off a pass from Gannon Henke at the boards.
"My teammates were helping me out a lot by passing the puck right to me.” McComas said. “I just had to be in the right spots at the right time.”
CMU led 6-2 after three straight goals from McComas. The second period ended with the Chippewa’s leading 6-3 after a Northwestern goal from Jack Wiig.
The third period started slower than the other two as fewer shots were attempted by Northwestern and the Chippewa’s. CMU had a two on one as forward Nick Modas faked the pass and scored to make it 7-3 with 15 minutes left.
CMU played a defensive third period while not letting a goal scored on them the rest of the game. The game ended 7-3 as CMU gets their first victory of the season.
“Our guys have been working so hard this season and tonight we decided this is our home rink and we were going to get the win tonight.” Knopp said.
CMU plays Northwestern at home tomorrow at 2 pm.
