BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Icers put two in the win column last week after taking on teams from Rochester .
Clarkston Varsity Hockey opened the week with a 3-2 win against Rochester United last Thursday at home.
“It was a good win for us,” said Nathan Bryer, head coach. “We lost a couple in a row and of our last five we lost a few. It was good for us to get back in the win column and start make positive steps forward as a team. It was good to see.”
Freshman Ron Wade opened the scoring with the first goal for the night three minutes into the game with assists from freshman Eric Wade and junior Devon Collis.
Senior Gino Giannini put the score 2-0 with 10:47 left in the first period. Senior Brandon Clements assisted on the goal.
Rochester United put one in the net with 5:29 left in the period from Nick Gerbi.
They tied the score at the beginning of the second period with a goal from Dominic Alter.
Collis scored on a power play with three minutes left in the second period. Senior Cristian Walk and Ron Wade assisted on the goal.
The Wolves put 36 shots on the net. Sophomore Parker Pace had 20 saves in the net.
Clarkston defeated Stoney Creek on Saturday, 4-1. Collis had one goal and two assists. Walk had one goal and one assist. Eric Wade and Ron Wade had one goal each. Junior Tyler Wilford, sophomore Brady Earing and sophomore Evan Adams had one assist each. The Wolves made 41 shots on the Cougars’ net and Pace had 22 saves.
“It was a good win,” Bryer said. “It probably wasn’t our best game of the season, but good teams find a way to win even when you aren’t playing well. There is definitely room for improvement. It was a good week for us to have some positive content and start winning again. We have been playing really good teams. They were losses, but I thought we were playing well so it was good for them confidence wise to get some wins.”
He added the losses against Flint Powers and Cranbrook before going into December will help the team.
“Both are going to be top five teams in the state at the end of the year,” he said. “It was a learning lesson for us and where we want to be as a program in the future. It was good for them to play those teams and see how they conduct themselves and how they compete and their skill level. At the end of the day it’s a win/loss sport so it’s good for us to start winning again.”
Bryer said Pace had a good week in the net.
“Both games Parker played really well,” he added. “He hadn’t had much career playing time prior to it and he really took full advantage of it. He was really good. Then, all of our captains, Drew Stewart, Gino, Christian, and Devon, led by example this week. It was a good week for us.”
The Wolves play three games this week before heading into Christmas break.
“It’s a tough week,” Bryer said. “We play Bloomfield who is a really well-coached team. Then, we play two teams up north who are good every year. It’s going to be a tough week and our team goal is to go into the Christmas break over .500 so we have a chance to do that this week.”
Clarkston (4-4) plays Bloomfield Hills on Thursday at Detroit Skating Club, 888 Denison Court, at 6:15 p.m.
They play Bay City on Friday, 7 p.m.; and Midland on Saturday, 10 a.m. Both games are at Bay County Civic Arena, 4231 Shrestha Drive in Bay City.

  ice hockey