CMU DIII hockey dominates Lake Superior State in home opener
Central Michigan's DIII club hockey team celebrates a 10-1 win over Davenport on Friday, Oct. 1 at Martin Arena.
In front of its home crowd for the first time this season, Central Michigan's Division III club hockey team dominated Lake Superior State with a final score of 13-2.
The Chippewas improve to 2-0 on the season.
"We had a lot of firsts tonight with goals and starts, which (are) those moments that we enjoy" said head coach Tyler Cataline. "With (Andrew) Szarki getting his first goal ever it carries on and the guys get excited."
In the second period, freshman forward Andrew Szarki recorded his first collegiate goal. To top it off, sophomore forward Isaac Gibbs scored his first collegiate hat-trick, while four Chippewas recorded their first goals of the year.
In the battle for starting goalie, junior Joel Drucker got his first collegiate start between the pipes. Drucker let in two goals and secured his first win as a Chippewa.
"I was happy to see him get his first career win here at Central," Cataline said. "He played good and made some key saves, especially in the first ten minutes before we started scoring our goals."
It didn't take long for the Chippewas to take advantage of a Laker tripping penalty as sophomore forward Nathan Bottles netted his second goal of the season, giving CMU a1-0 lead early in the first period.
Senior forward Keelan Baker added onto the Chippewa advantage with his first goal of the season. Before the end of the first, sophomore forward Issac Gibbs added two goals to push CMU's lead to 4-0.
The Chippewas stayed hot in the second period as former senior defenseman turned forward Austin Ritter and senior forward Charlie Hayes recorded their first goals of the season. Shortly after his first goal of the season, Hayes netted another pushing the lead to seven.
The Lakers snuck one past Drucker in the second period, but that didn’t faze the Chippewas. Gibbs caused hats to fly on the ice as he recorded his third goal of the night extending the lead to 8-1. Gibbs finished with four goals on the night.
Late in the third period, the Lakers got a second one passed Drucker to cut the CMU lead to nine. But when the dust settled, the Chippewas secured a 13-2 victory.
"This is what I expect from Gibbs every weekend," Cataline said. "Four or five goals in a weekend. He is that type of player where he can take over and prove to everyone he is that type of player. He's a phenomenon player and I hope he continues to do what he does. Glad he's on my team and I don't have to worry about covering him."
The Chippewas are home once again against the Lakers Friday at Martin Ice Arena with puck drop set for 1:15 p.m.
