Trojans come out 'flying' in hockey win

Hockey

March 2, 2010

TC Central upends Alpena

BY JAMES COOK The Record Eagle Tue Mar 02, 2010, 07:28 AM EST

TRAVERSE CITY -- Traverse City Central set the tone early on Monday.

Sealing the deal waited until later.

The Trojans dominated the first period, outshooting Alpena 14-2, and led 2-0 on the way to a 5-1 Division 2 pre-regional victory at Howe Arena.

"Central came out of the gate flying," Alpena coach Chris Limback said. "We weren't ready for their speed and they were winning every loose puck. They just battled on us. We had a lot of trouble adjusting. We were lucky to get out of that period down just 2-0."

The Trojans had another goal waved off.

Caleb Morgan had four points on a goal and three assists.

"A lot of them were just digging out the puck and looking for the guy that was open," Morgan said.

He put the game away with an empty-net goal with 2:02 remaining and set up Trevor Mattis' third-period goal that gave the Trojans (13-12) a big goal to go up 4-1.

"That whole line of Caleb, Cooper and Trevor gave us some really good shifts," Central coach Chris Givens said. "Cooper had two power-play goals. He was blocking shots and diving around. He's playing a lot older than a freshman, for sure. Caleb had a nice pass to Trevor on his goal and showed nice patience on his empty-net goal."

Struggling with a 7-17 record, Alpena had won two of its last four entering the playoffs.

"The second period, we turned it around," Limback said. "We came out and really started to play. We had that bad four-minute penalty that really cost us. I thought if we could have gotten through that one unscathed, we could built on that."

Central struck once on a four-minute power play after Alpena's Brad Gosselin was whistled for roughing and then given an additional unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for swearing at an official.

Morgan threw a blind pass across the crease that was received by Cooper Macdonell and deposited in the net on a one-timer for a 3-1 lead. Garrett Frain also picked up an assist.

"I was stuck in front of the net and had no shot," Morgan said, "but I turned and saw Cooper coming back door and hit him with the puck and he buried it. It was a good goal."

Alpena had made it 2-1 with a precision 2-on-1 rush by Justen Amstutz and Jared Cloft, ending with Amstutz' one-timer 2:44 into the second.

The Trojans didn't take long to get on the board, as Alex Wietrick held off an Alpena defender on a rush and got off a backhand shot that skipped off goalie Tyler Schultz' pads and onto the stick of Jared VanWormer on the left doorstep for an easy tap-in goal just 20 seconds into the game.

Central made it 2-0 when Macdonell backhanded a rebound high into the net, with Lucas Little and Morgan notching assists.

"I was real happy with the first and third periods," Givens said. "I don't know what happened in the second period, but we just weren't as sharp as before. But we came back in the third and got our forecheck established again early and made some good plays around the net to keep the pressure on them and keep them bottled up."

The Trojans ended up with a 38-13 advantage in shots on goal, with freshman Bill Vermetten making 12 saves.

Forward Max Schrank missed part of the third period with a shoulder injury, but is expected to play Wednesday against the Bay Reps at Howe, pitting two friends against each other in coaches Todd Spaulding and Givens.

"I was just with Todd the other night and we were talking," Givens said. "We were both saying we both win and we get a chance to play Wednesday. But it's going to be a little weird. One of us is going to be knocking the other out. It's different when it's a good friend of yours on the other side. I know we both want to win, but I know at the end, whoever does win there's going to be a bit of a weird feeling that they knocked the other out.

"We trade notes on things we're doing and things that are working and not working. We're going to have to stop that now for a couple days."

The Trojans beat the Reps 6-3 in Central's holiday tournament.