Traverse City Record-Eagle

Hockey

March 11, 2010

On to semifinals for TC West hockey

Titans hold off Hudsonville 3-2

By John Raffel

BIG RAPIDS -- It's on to Compuware Arena for the Traverse City West Titans.

Coach Jeremy Rintala's hockey team fired out to a 3-0 lead and held back a third-period rally by Hudsonville to register a 3-2 Division 1 quarterfinal victory Wednesday at Ferris State University's Ewigleben Ice Arena.

Jake Longstreet, Zach Franklin and Cody Stricker scored goals for the Titans, who now take a 17-9-1 record to Plymouth's Compuware Arena for the team's first-ever state semifinal test. The No. 7-ranked Titans face off at 6 p.m. against No. 4 Howell (22-4-2).

"We're lucky enough to play another game," Rintala said. "That's what we've been battling for the whole playoffs. This is all gravy to us now. We're very excited and very proud of the boys. They've come together the right time of year."

"It's really exciting," said Titan junior defenseman Frank Gilbert. "It's never happened for the school before. It's fun to be a part of it. We weren't expected to even get out of our (regional) and now we're going to the Final Four."

The season ends for Hudsonville at 13-15.

The winners had a 31-15 advantage in shots, including 13-4 in the second period. Goalie Nate Wilson had 13 saves for the West, while Zach Streeter had 28 stops for Hudsonville.

"We knew they weren't going to quit," Rintala said. "I thought we executed our game plan the first two periods greatly and limited their chances on net. We told our guys what to watch for in the third. I don't know if it was nerves or what, but we just didn't execute our game plan in the third period and it showed. They had a very good chance to tie that game."

"We kept it going in the second and came out flat in the third," Gilbert said. "That's what kind of hurt us and we took some stupid penalties. We kind of let down. The plan is to always get off to a quick lead. We thought it'd be possible. We kept pouring shots on net and tried to get them in and we did."

Longstreet got TC West on the board 2:29 into the first period when he deflected a shot into the net. Cody Stricker and Trent McDougall drew assists.

"Their first shot on net went in," said Hudsonville coach Jason Caster said. "That kind of got our guys down."

With just 11.9 seconds to play in the period, Franklin fired a loose puck in front of the net past Streeter for a 2-0 advantage. Shane Totten drew an assist.

At 12:35 of the second period, Stricker scored off a face-off, assisted by Franklin, for the 3-0 advantage.

"We've made up 3-0 deficits before so we knew we could do it if we got things going," Caster said. "We told our kids to go out and win the third period and be proud of ourselves regardless of what happens. If we lose 3-1 or 3-2, let's say we won the period and we can skate with them."

Hudsonville had three power plays early in the third period. The Titans killed the first two but at 4:38 into the period, Cayce Fletcher notched a power-play goal to put the Eagles back in the game. With less than five minutes to go in regulation, Aaron Barto scored on a breakaway for Hudsonville's second goal.

"As a coaching staff, we knew we could play with them," Caster said. "They were a step stronger than us. But if we continue to play our system and play our game, which we did in the third period, we'd have a chance. It was just a little too late for us."

With 2:37 left in the game, the Titans went on the power play but only for 12 seconds before getting whistled for a penalty. With time winding down, the Eagles had a 2-on-1 break at the net but Titan defenseman Chris Dienes blocked the shot. Hudsonville pulled Streeter with 30 seconds to play but to no avail.

"Give them credit," Rintala said. "They battled to the end. I felt coming in we had controlled the tempo of the whole game until the third period. We got a few penalties right off the bat. It's tough for high school kids to calm back down after that. High school sports is all about momentum and we had it for most of the game. Once they got some, they fed off it and gave it everything they had.

"You could see our guys were trying to hang on. Luckily they did so. That's all that matters."

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