BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
By the end of two periods, the Wolves were tied with Hartland in the MHSAA Ice Hockey Division 2 Region 12 Semifinal.
The Eagles broke the tie in the third period with three goals, moving on to the regional final game after winning 4-2 on Feb. 23.
“Hartland is a very good team this year,” said Clarkston Varsity Hockey Head Coach Nathan Bryer.
“I thought there were a lot of good things. We played well, we had guys step up to the occasion and we gave them a really hard game. I was proud of them for that. They really gave everything we had into that game.”
Senior Cristian Walk and freshman Ron Wade had one goal each. Senior Brandon Clements had two assists. Senior Drew Stewart and junior Blake Botterill had one assist each. Sophomore Hunter Smith had 18 saves in the net.
“It was a team effort,”Bryer said. “I think our leadership was good. Guys like Gino G.iannini, Christian Walk, Devon Collis, Saber Koleber, our older guys. On defense, it would be Brandon Clements, Drew Stewart, a lot of our seniors. They really bought into what we were trying to do and that trickled down into our younger guys.”
He added competing against Hartland in the regionals will help the players next season.
“It’s good for them to see them,” he said. “It’s a program that’s been good for ten years now and it’s a public school. There are no excuses – it’s not the private schools where they can recruit and get other guys. It’s a public school just like us. It’s good for them to see that’s the goal. That’s what we want to become. We want to become that program that year after year puts a very good team out on the ice. It’s good for them to see a team like that and how they conduct themselves and the way they compete. I am not saying we are super far off because we have guys put in places where we match up against a team like that. But it’s good for them to see that’s our goal now. It’s not just to be a good OAA team. It’s to be a really good team in the state of Michigan.”
Clarkston finished the season 7-17-1 (3-7 OAA Red).
“It was a very trying year and our record reflects it,” Bryer said. “There were a lot of ups and downs all year. We learned a lot about our group. It was a little bit of a trying season, but there were a lot of positives and there was a lot of good that came from it. Last year was such a tough year because it was such a short season. We barely got to know some of the kids. This year we finally got a full year so you can view this as more so of our first year. They did a great job really embracing what the new coaching staff wants to do.”
The Wolves say goodbye to six seniors: Clements, Giannini, Koleber, Stewart, Walk and Tyler Pauly.
Bryer said the seniors have been instrumental in the vision for the program.
“We are trying to build Clarkston Hockey into a team that is competitive for a state championship every year and it takes time,” Bryer explained. “It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not something that’s going to happen in one year of new coach and new system taking over. But those guys were the building blocks. A lot of them I had for two years. They were the guys, who hopefully in five years when we are a really competitive team, are the guys who started it. They got us going in the right direction. They were the building blocks to get us where we want to go as a program.”

  Clarkston Varsity Hockey, ice hockey