CMU DIII men's hockey sweeps U of M Flint
From behind the Wolverines net, Central Michigan’s division III club hockey team senior forward Andrew Porzondek looked ahead the ice for an open man.
Unable to find an opening, he skated around the net. Porzondek lifted the puck past the University of Michigan-Flint’s goaltender and into the net to score his third of the night, helping secure an 8-2 victory on Saturday night in Martin Ice Arena.
It was Porzondek's second hat trick of the season.
“It feels great,” said senior forward Andrew Porzondek. “It is nice to put the puck in the net, but it's better to get up by a few goals to get the team win.
"Honestly, the third one is the easiest. You just kind of wait for your opportunity and when you get your chance, you just let it rip. To get these two wins on this weekend. We really need it, especially for motivation and moving forward. This will definitely table on top of the other wins that we get.”
CMU moves to 7-4 on the season.
“After going 0-4 the last few games, we needed a weekend like this, especially a blowout win,” said head coach Tyler Cataline. “Having Porzondek get six points today with three goals and three assists is huge. That is what I expect from him every week.”
With a tripping penalty to the Wolverines, the Chippewas found themselves with a man advantage. Porzondek took advantage as he fired a shot on net that sailed past the Michigan-Flint netminder's shoulder and into the back of the net.
On the powerplay once again, Porzondek fired another shot on goal extending the lead to 2.
The Wolverines cut the lead in half with just under two minutes left in the first.
One minute later, junior forward Jay Naidu fired a shot from the hash marks and into the top left side of the net to make the score 3-1 going into the second period.
Fired up from the late first-period goal, Naidu netted his second of the night pushing the CMU lead to 4-1 causing a goalie change for the Wolverines. Minutes later, freshman forward Conner Morgan extended the Chippewas score to 5-1.
Junior forward Julian Johnson and Morgan both found the back of the net for the Chippewas to extend the Chippewas advantage to eight.
Before time ran out, the Wolverines netted one more to make it 8-2.
With the Chippewas undecided on a permanent goalie, freshman Elijah Jones got the start in net, securing his second win of the season.
“Elijah played great tonight,” Cataline said. “It makes practice really fun when they’re battling for that starting spot. Loren played great last night, so we will see who gets the start on Friday.”
Although the Chippewas swept the Wolverines, Porzondek knows now is not the time to let up.
“We need to work even harder,” said Porzondek. “We’re playing Saginaw. We got a big weekend ahead of us. We got to bear down and grind this week to get ourselves ready for this weekend.”
The Chippewas face off against Saginaw Valley State at home on Saturday at 9 p.m.
“High-intensity practices this week,” Cataline said. “Saginaw is a great team, and they are well coached. We are going to have some pretty hard practices this week and get ready for them.”
