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Printer-Friendly ModeHockey team starts strong at home
Team sweeps first weekend games against Alpena, Oakland University
October 2, 2006 —
Freshman Jonathan Tibaudo scored the game-winning power-play goal with 6:09 left as the Cardinals Club Hockey Team beat Oakland University 4-3 at the Saginaw Bay Ice Arena Saturday night.
Tibaudo finished the evening with two goals and an assist, sophomore Matt Fogal and senior Ryan Michaels each tallied a goal and an assist, and senior goaltender Brad Altenbernt had 39 saves as the Cards improved to 2-1-0.
Oakland took an early two-goal lead in the first period before Fogal opened the scoring for SVSU. The Grizzlies goalie mishandled the puck on a dump in and Fogal knocked it into the back of an empty net to bring the Cardinals within one. A minute and a half later, Michaels skated in and flipped the puck past the Oakland netminder to knot the score at two.
Oakland answered with 3:26 to go in the period when a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle snuck past Altenbernt. The lead was short lived, though, as Michaels took the puck from behind the net on the power play with just over a minute to go in the first and fed it in front to Tibaudo, who banged home his first goal of the evening.
"The first period is kind of a chess game," Cardinals coach Steve Hart said. "You have to feel each other out a little bit and try to figure out what they're doing."
If the first period was a chess game, then the second was a stalemate. The Cards were unable to convert an early two-man advantage and Altenbernt made several key saves in keeping the score tied heading into the third period.
"The goalies were playing out of their heads tonight," Hart said.
The Oakland goaltending stayed strong to begin the final period, but the Cards' intense play proved too strong for the Grizzlies to overcome.
"So far in the three games we've played," Hart said, "we're a third period team. The third period has been ours."
It looked as though the Cards were going to take the lead with just over seven minutes to play when freshman Chris Landrith took a pass just in front of an Oakland defenseman and headed up ice on a breakaway. Landrith was unable to get a clean shot off, though, and the Oakland goalie turned it away.
A penalty a few minutes later set up the game-winning goal, as Tibaudo took the faceoff, knocked the puck between the center's legs, and faked a shot before snapping one into the back of the net. Tibaudo's fifth goal of the season was the decisive one as the Cardinals would hold on with the help of a few more key saves from Altenbernt.
"The season is going great," Tibaudo said. "We've got two wins and the team is coming along real good. We're starting to skate well, pass the puck, and make some plays, and the pucks are just going in the net."
Hart echoed those comments, saying his team can do good things if they avoid costly penalties.
"If we can stay disciplined, stay out of the box, and play five man hockey," Hart said, "I really don't think there's a team that can beat us in this league. These guys are something special and they rise to the occasion."
Cards win home opener
The Cardinals Club Hockey Team welcomed its first home crowd in three years with a 6-5 come-from behind-victory over Alpena Community College Friday night.
Tibaudo's game-winning goal with just over six minutes to go gave him a hat trick for the evening, and the Cardinals hung on for the victory.
The freshman finished with six points on the night as he assisted on all three of the goals that made up senior Ryan Michaels' hat trick.
The Cards rushed out to a quick 3-1 before Alpena got two late goals in the period to knot the score.
The Cardinals would regain the lead just four minutes into the second period on Michaels second goal of the game, but Alpena countered with two more goals just under a minute apart to take a 5-4 lead.
The game would stay that way until the beginning of the third period, when Michaels third goal tied the game. Tibaudo would then get his hat trick 13:30 into the third to give the Cards their first win of the season.