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Printer-Friendly ModeWinning streak reaches nine
February 8, 2010 —
SVSU recorded its ninth straight win in the final home game of the season Saturday night, beating the Calvin College Knights 7-2.
The game was played in honor of Eric Tien, a Midland teenager battling a rare form of cancer. Funds were collected for Tien throughout the game to help curb the cost of his treatment.
In addition to Tien, the night was special for SVSU sophomore goaltender Jake Chaillier, who celebrated his 21st birthday.
The first goal of the night came from SVSU at 17:22 from sophomore forward Corey Barella with an assist from freshman defenseman Ryan Satko.
Calvin answered with backto- back power play goals at 12:13 and its final goal of the game at 4:19, respectively.
Cardinal freshman forward Erik Jackson scored at 2:47 with assists from sophomore forward Ryan Tempich and senior forward Jonathan Tibaudo, ending the period with a 2-2 tie.
The first half of the second period was relatively quiet for both teams until 11:40 when SVSU scored a goal which was discounted upon review. However, Cardinal freshman forward Adam Leibinger notched a power play goal at 11:01 with assists from sophomore forward Ben Welch and sophomore defenseman Steve Pelky.
SVSU’s Leibinger scored again at 5:03 with assists from Welch and Tempich, giving the Cardinals a 4-2 lead.
SVSU began the third period of the night with a goal from Pelky at 16:29 with an assist from goaltender Chaillier. The Cardinals work on penalty kills throughout the year paid off during a 5-on-3, following the goal in addition to crucial saves made by Chaillier. SVSU’s Jackson scored at 10:50 with assists from Tempich and junior defenseman Kaleb Grapp. The final goal of the game came in a power play goal at 3:25 from Jackson with assists from Satko and senior defenseman Patrick Miller. This goal marked the first career hat trick for Jackson.
The Cardinals, who are now 19-5 for the season, will now be preparing for the American Collegiate Hockey Association North Region Tournament on Feb. 19-20 in Grand Rapids. Jackson and Barella, both in their first seasons with the team, are looking forward to see how far the team can go in the tournament.
“I’m happy that we had such a good last home game, but I’m sad at the same time,” says Jackson.
“We’ve had such a good season.”
Barella echoes Jackson’s sentiments.
“I feel pretty good. We’re in a nine-game winning streak, and I hope that we’ll be able to keep it up for nationals,” he says.
Jackson and Barella think that the team will be most successful if it really works during the following sessions of practice.
“It’s got to start in practice,” says Jackson.
“We have some time off before we go [to the tournament], so we’ll definitely be taking advantage of our practices.”
“Our lines work really well together,” says Barella.
“We know our skill, and we know what we have to do. Our power play and our penalty kill has improved a lot since October, so we’ll have to keep that up.”
As for the team’s chances for making the national tournament in Fort Myers, Fla., Jackson and Barella think that it’s possible as long as the team keeps up with the hard work.
“I’m very excited for the tournament,” says Jackson.
“It’s my first year with the team, and I always wanted to play hockey in college,” says Barella.
“I’m very lucky and happy that I was able to get a spot. I know we’ll be working our tails off to get to Florida.”