After skating to a 6-all tie before the holiday break and with just a one point differential in the standings, there wasn’t much separating the hockey teams from Lake Orion and Troy as they heading into their second meeting of the year Wednesday night at the Troy Sports Center.
But that changed in a hurry.
The Dragons scored two goals in the first period and added six in the second to mercy the host Colts and gain the upper hand in the race for the OAA II crown.
It was Troy’s first loss in league action, dropping them to 8-1-2, now three points behind the 10-1-1 Dragons.
‘We played well, but I thought we caught them on a bad night,? Lake Orion Coach Pat Cherry said. ‘They’re a much better team then what they showed.?
Ken Klooster scored twice in the second and three Dragons tallied at least three points on the night (Kevin Kranker, David Wurst and Mike Rinke) to lead the balanced offensive attack.
Jason Stross made 10 saves in net for the shutout, as a running clock started with about three minutes left in the second period.
Troy had no answer for the Dragon offense, pulling top goaltender Colin Bronsteen with six minutes to go in the second period.
With the eight goal lead through two periods, the puck did not need to be dropped for a third stanza.
‘It’s just a lot of emotions,? Cherry said, trying to pinpoint the reason behind the LO scoring barrage
‘That was one of the best games we played all year,? he added.
Cherry said that even now with the lead in the league, and finished playing against the other title contenders, the team cannot let up.
Assistant Coach Mike Wahoski said they will use last year’s late-season loss against Avondale as an example of what can happen if you do.
‘We still have a long way to go,? Cherry said. ‘There’s a quarter of the season left,?
The Dragons get right back to it against Rochester tonight, and then visit Birmingham United on Saturday in an OAA crossover.
‘We want to try to represent the OAA II well,? Cherry said.
For the outcome of those games, see next week’s Lake Orion Review.