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Printer-Friendly ModeSVSU gaining momentum with wins
November 16, 2009 —
The SVSU club hockey team is continuing its successful run following an 8-2 win against Lawrence Tech University on Friday night.
LTU scored the first goal of the game at 16:00, but junior defenseman Kaleb Grapp answered with a goal at 12:20 with assists from freshman forward Eric Jackson and senior forward Doug Greene. Sophomore forward Ben Welch completed the period with a power play goal at 8:25 with an assist from sophomore defenseman Steve Pelky.
The Cardinals continued to build their momentum in the second period following a goal from junior forward Chris Tibaudo at 12:46. Sophomore defenseman Mike Lucchese scored the first goal of his college career at 10:12 with assists from Tempich and freshman forward Adam Leibinger.
SVSU tallied another goal at 4:47 from Tempich. LTU ended the period with its final goal of the game at 1:42.
SVSU dominated scoring-wise in the third period beginning with Tibaudo at 11:22 with an assist from Leibinger. The final goals of the game, both empty net, occurred with Welch scoring at 1:46 and Grapp scoring the final goal of the game at 1:25.
As the season has progressed, the Cardinals have made great improvements, which are paving the way for another successful season. Senior defenseman Patrick Miller, the captain, said that the team’s specialties have allowed success in each individual game and will hopefully lead to a successful rest of the season.
“Our specialties are definitely our biggest strength,” Miller said. The steps we’ve made with our penalty killing and power plays are making a big difference when the other team goes down because we can capitalize on their mistakes.”
Lucchese said the team’s strengths help each individual player during the game.
“If I’m in the penalty box, or if anybody’s in the penalty box, I know that I can always count on the guys to kill it off and keep our team going.”
Miller thinks maintaining a positive attitude will be the biggest determining factor for success during the season.
“We still have to keep showing up to the rink to play every night. We can’t win without being prepared,” Miller said.
Lucchese’s beliefs about the team’s potential success are similar and adds that the drive for another championship is on everyone’s mind.
“We definitely have to keep a good attitude, because we all want a repeat of a national championship. It’s in the back of our minds, especially the rookies’ minds, even if we don’t always say it. We want to be as good as we can be, and I really think we can be as good as we were last year, if not better.”
The Cardinals will play their next home game against Oakland University on November 21.