Lakers Wash Away Buckeyes

Powered by a junior forward, Lake Superior used a pair of goal sprees to defeat Ohio State 7-3 in front of a small crowd at Value City Arena.

Both teams are coming off a rough start where both teams only managed a point over two games. Ohio State tied with Miami in night one of a series which saw the Buckeyes get pounded by the RedHawks 7-3 on Saturday. Michigan Tech tied the Lakers on Friday night but Lake Superior lost on the Saturday game by a single goal.

Ohio State led early with an early goal scored by Hunter Bishop on a poke check created by freshmen forward Zac Dalpe. Lake Superior fired back with three goals in a five minute span, starting with a goal from sophomore forward Chad Nehring that he tipped from a far angle shot from Lakers John Scrymgeour.

“Right after they scored, I told the guys to forget about it and get the next one,” junior forward Nathan Perkovich said. “We came back and the same line that got scored on scored a goal for us.”

Just two minutes later with 14 minutes left in the first period, freshman forward Fred Cassiani scored to give Lake Superior the lead for good. Three minutes later, Perkovich, a New Jersey Devils product, scored on a deflection from a high slot shot by Steven Kaunisto.

Ohio State cut the deficit in half with a power play goal by Peter Boyd to end the first.

Midway through the second, Lake Superior’s Dan Barczuk scored the eventual game winner on a change up from the left faceoff dot that went under the glove of Buckeye goaltender Joseph Palmer. The goal chased Palmer for the second straight game and he was replaced by sophomore Dustin Carlson.

“We got a few bounces around the net,” Lake Superior coach Jim Roque said. “That was a fluky goal (in the second period), but last week we couldn’t get one of those if our lives depended on it.”

Ohio State would once again go into the locker room down one after Corey Elkins scored a puck that slipped under the pad of netminder Brian Mahoney-Wilson.

Nehring and Cassiani scored early in the third to chase Carlson form the game and Ohio State used freshman goalie Cal Heeter finished. Perkovich got his fourth point of the game with a power play goal late in the third.

Ohio State coach John Markell was not happy with the play of his young players during the game.

“We have to learn how to fight back but taking shortcuts is not the right way,” Markell said. “It is what we need to get this young group to realize that lucky bounces are going to happen in hockey.”

But this was a tale of the difference in goaltending. Ohio State could not find a goalie to provide a spark. After a rough start, Mahoney-Wilson settled down to only allow one goal in the final two periods, in which Ohio State registered 31 shots.

In tomorrow’s rematch, Pat Inglis will get the start for Lake Superior between the pipes. Markell said he would need to review tape before deciding on his goaltender for the series finale.