The Falcon hockey team swept the Lake Superior State Lakers, defeating them 5-3 on Friday night and 3-2 on Saturday night.
“As a whole, it was a good series for us,” Falcons head coach Chris Bergeron said. “Any time you can sweep somebody on the road is a big deal, and I’m happy with the weekend overall.”
Friday’s game saw both teams get on the board early, as Lake Superior State scored at the 2:23 mark of the first period, and the Falcons countered just 28 seconds later with a goal from sophomore defenseman Alec Rauhauser. Lake Superior State responded with a goal of their own 26 seconds later to restore the one goal advantage, but freshman forward Max Johnson capitalized on a power play opportunity at 10:21 to make it a 2-2 game heading into the second period.
“I thought our first shift was good, I thought our second shift was good,” Bergeron said. “The third shift we had a poor d-zone coverage that ended up in our net, then Rauhauser made a great play to tie it 1-1, and then they got a pretty good bounce on the rush. I didn’t think we were playing poorly.”
The second period, however, was all Falcons, as sophomore forward Lukas Craggs put the Falcons back on top at the 8:25 mark. Freshman forward Brandon Kruse added to the lead with a goal at 12:13. At 17:53, Spezia also scored to make it a 5-2 game heading into the third. While Lake Superior State was able to get one goal back on a power play chance at 12:02 in the third period, the Falcons still held on to win 5-3.
The team was satisfied with being able to have a number of different players scoring throughout the game.
“We have to do it by committee,” Bergeron said. “We need everybody involved, whether it be forwards or defense, and I think guys contributed tonight, which is great to see.”
The game started out on Saturday with a big first period offensively for the Falcons, as senior forward Tyler Spezia got the team on the board first with a goal at the 3:07 mark. It wouldn’t take long for the Falcons to score again, as senior forward Mitch McLain capitalized on a power play chance at the 8:57 mark. The strong first was capped off with less than two minutes remaining in the period, as Spezia scored his second of the game to open up a 3-0 lead.
“He’s a senior who’s played a lot of hockey for us,” Bergeron said of Spezia. “Pucks just found a way into the net tonight — and last night, too.”
The second period, however, saw Lake Superior State begin to make a comeback as they got their first goal of the game just past the halfway point. Just over two minutes later, Lake Superior State cut the deficit in half on a shorthanded goal, but were unable to find the equalizing goal, and the Falcons held onto the 3-2 lead. The third period saw both teams have some scoring chances, including a Lake Superior State shot that went off the crossbar halfway through the period, but neither team scored as the Falcons grabbed the 3-2 victory.
“They played much better and we played not as well, so it was a combination of things (in the second),” Bergeron said. “We turned over way too many pucks, we just didn’t play the game the way we wanted and the way we had played in the first.”
The team will next play Friday and Saturday nights at home against the Michigan Tech Huskies.
