CMU DIII hockey remains perfect with win against Cleary
Defenseman Charlie Hayes is restrained by a referee during Central Michigan DIII club hockey's 10-1 season-opening win over Davenport on Friday, Oct.1 at Martin Arena.
Coming off a winning weekend, the Central Michigan Division III hockey returned home to face Cleary University on Friday.
However, retaining their perfect record would be a challenge for the Chippewas without forward sophomore Isaac Gibbs and senior forward Ben Hryciuk.
Senior forward Keegan Moore was also scratched from tonight’s lineup and is done for the rest of the season to focus on school.
“Missing (Isaac) Gibbs and Ben Hyrciuk are huge,” said head coach Tyler Cataline. “Tyler Martin and Luke Wild, those guys that don’t get that ice time, really stepped up today.”
In the end, CMU kept its winning streak alive, as it beat the Cougars 3-2.
Loren Jones got the start for the Chippewas tonight, his second start of the season in the three-way battle for starting goaltender.
"(Jones) played amazing today,” Cataline said. “He won that game for us. Talking with the assistant coaches of mine, he definitely has the edge up right now, and I am going to go with him tomorrow.”
With an early tripping penalty against Cleary, the Chippewas found themselves with a one-man advantage. Although the Cougars nearly scored a shorthanded chance, freshman forward Conner Morgan found senior forward Andrew Porzendek near the net.
Porzendek gave CMU a 1-0 lead on a shot that deflected off the pad of Cleary’s goalie and above the crossbar before falling over the line.
Despite having control throughout the first, the Cougars managed to sneak one past Jones tying the game at one heading into the locker room.
“I stressed between all the periods that we need to play those full sixty minutes of hockey,” Cataline said. “We need to put a full twenty minutes together in each period and not skate down to their level as we did in that first period.”
Unphased by Cleary’s late goal, the Chippewas regained the lead four minutes into the second period. Freshman forward Andrew Szarki beat the Cougars goalie giving the Chippewas a 2-1 lead.
Keeping the momentum going, freshman forward Conner Morgan netted the Chippewas third of the night, beating the Cleary netminders glove and putting CMU ahead 3-1.
Down by one and just under two minutes left in the game, the Cougars had one last chance to get back in the game.
After pulling their goalie for a sixth attacker, creating a six-on-four matchup, the Cougars managed to sneak one past Jones, bringing the score to 3-2. But in the end, it was too late as the Chippewas secured the victory.
CMU will travel to Howell, on Saturday for a rematch with the Cougars. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.
