MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State hockey team earned a 6-1 win over the No. 20 Northern Michigan Wildcats on Friday, Jan. 28 in the first game of a weekend series of a weekend Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) series at the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Mich. With the win that clinched the Cappo Cup, the Lakers hold a 12-14-1 overall record and an 8-11-0 mark in conference play.
Senior forward Miroslav Mucha scored a pair of goals in his first career multi-point game while freshman Josh Nixon also recorded a two-goal performance in the victory. Junior forward Logan Jenuwine and freshman forward Cole Craft rounded out the scoring for the Lakers in the game. Junior goaltender Seth Eisele made 40 saves for the Lakers in his sixth win of the season.
The Lakers grabbed a 1-0 lead just 1:13 into the game as Nixon scored his sixth goal of the season. Sophomore forward Benito Posa blocked a shot in the defensive zone, forcing a turnover. Posa then chipped the puck out of the zone and sprung a pass to Nixon, who was driving through the neutral zone. Nixon skated through the pair of NMU defenders as he made his way through the offensive zone and beat Wildcats goaltender Rico DiMatteo with a quick wrist shot on his glove side for the game's first goal.
Eisele had a strong first period in net for the Lakers as the goaltender made a number of big stops including a save on Mikey Colella on a two-on-one opportunity.
As the first period played on, the Lakers continued to create a number of quality scoring chances. Jenuwine had a great chance as he drove to the net, looking to add to the Lakers lead. The Laker forward tried to make a move around the Wildcat goalie but was pulled down on the play. Lake Superior State headed to the power play for the first time in the game with 2:14 left on the clock in the opening period.
At 18:32 of the first period, the Lakers doubled their lead as Mucha netted his sixth goal of the season and his first of the game. The Lakers power play unit was able to get set up in the offensive zone. Junior forward Louis Boudon and sophomore defenseman Jacob Bengtsson traded passes with Boudon eventually dishing the puck to Mucha who was behind the Wildcat goal. Mucha made a quick move and curled in with the puck on DiMatteo. The Laker assistant captain sent a shot past DiMatteo on his blocker side to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead, which held up as the game winning goal.
Before the end of the first period, Mucha would add another goal for the Lakers to give the team a 3-0 advantage after 20 minutes of play. Mucha's first career multi-goal game was a result of an off man opportunity with Jenuwine. After junior defenseman Arvid Henrikson banked a pass off the boards to spring Jenuwine out of the defensive zone, Mucha and Jenuwine entered the Wildcats end. With one of the Wildcats defenders down on the play, Mucha slid a pass to Jenuwine, who then fired a low shot on DiMatteo that let out a big rebound. Mucha followed up on the play and was able to put home the rebound for a three goal lead at the 19:38 mark.
The Wildcats would get on the board early in the second period as senior forward David Keefer scored a power play goal at 2:46 to make it a 3-1 game. Hank Crone and Ben Newhouse assisted on the NMU goal.
At the 6:06 mark of the second period, Boudon was assessed a major penalty to give the Wildcats a five minute power play. The Lakers killed off the five-minute major as the team's penalty killers, led by Eisele, were impressive. Eisele made a number of highlight-reel saves including a pad stop on Keefer, and a pair of glove saves on Trevor Cosgrove.
The Lakers extended their lead to 4-1 at 12:19 of the middle frame when Jenuwine scored his second goal of the season on a blast from just outside the faceoff dot to DiMatteo's left. After DiMatteo let out a rebound, sophomore Tyler Williams collected the puck and wrapped a pass into the corner. Henrikson pinched in to keep the play alive and Jenuwine would win the battle for the puck along the boards. Jenuwine's goal came after he skated out of the corner and drove towards the NMU goal all alone. The forward's strong shot was on display as he beat DiMatteo on his glove side for a 4-1 lead.
Nixon scored his second goal of the game at the 12:43 mark of the third period to give the Lakers a 5-1 lead. The Lakers combined to force a turnover at the blue line of their own end and sophomore Joshua Wildauer came away with the puck. Wildauer sent a quick pass to freshman forward Brett Roloson, who gained the offensive zone and dropped a pass back to Nixon. The Laker winger fired a sharp angle shot on goal that beat DiMatteo to give the Lakers a four-goal lead.
Craft capped off the game's scoring at 18:30 of the final period with a power play goal. Craft capitalized on a pass from Mucha, and would get off a shot in the slot to score his first career power play goal. Henrikson notched the secondary assist on the goal, as the junior defenseman finished the game with a career-best three assists.
Eisele, who was named the first star in the game, had a stellar preformance for the Lakers in the win. The goalie stopped 40 shots, which is one shy of his single-game career-high, which included a 22 save effort in the second period.
The Lakers and Wildcats will wrap up the weekend series tomorrow night as the teams will faceoff at the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Mich. Puck drop is set for 6:37 p.m.
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