ROCHESTER HILLS — The Clarkston Varsity Hockey team was victorious over Stoney Creek for the second time in a month with a 8-1 win over the Cougars at Suburban Ice Rochester last Friday.
The Wolves showed their muscle on the first goal, a power play and before the first period ended had tallied a comfortable four goal lead.
“We were solid throughout the game and had four different scorers in the first period,” said Nathan Bryer, head coach. “We coach to always keep consistent pressure on the other team so we can capitalize on opportunities to score.”
Stoney Creek’s Tyler Glowczewski took a minor penalty for hooking at 14:29 in the opening minutes. Clarkston’s Gavin Anderson took just 16 seconds, drilling a low shot in the slot from a perfect pass off the stick of Mike Truby, to open the scoring with a power play goal.
Trey Damien made the Cougars pay on his way to a four-point night(with a hat trick and one assist) from linemate Frank Stanek to up the Wolves lead to two.
Less than two minutes later, Kyle Lynch jumped on a Cougar turnover to notch the third goal of the period, unassisted.
With just 4:05 left, Stanek from Damien capped the opening period scoring.
Out for the second period, Drew Seiting and Drew Swanson executed a precision pass combo to net a top shelf shot to open the scoring at 16:40 remaining.
At 7:07 Gavin Anderson took a minor for roughing, but Damien stole the puck from a Cougar a defense man and converted with a short handed goal to record number six.
Coming out in the third, frustration set in for the Cougars, taking back-to-back minor penalties.
The Wolves’ power play roared again as the Damien and Anderson connection netted the seventh goal for the visitors.
Playing aggressive hockey for 51 minutes, makes penalties tough to avoid and Johnny Walker took a tripping call at 6:41, during which the Cougars power play was able to spoil Clarkston’s netminder Calum Hartners shutout performance by Cougar forward, Cole Chielewski to record their only goal.
Truby capped the Wolves scoring with 1:46 left, from linemates Cal Kennedy and Stanek to give the Wolves their eighth and final goal.
“We are always looking to keep our game consistent and keep the pressure on our opponents,” said Damien after the game. “Tonight we kept our foot on the gas and it showed.”
Clarkston opened the week with a 4-1 loss to Detroit Catholic Central on Thursday.
The Wolves stood up to a very physical and skilled Shamrocks team, holding them to a single goal lead nearly halfway through the final period. Then, penalty trouble near the end proved to stall any effort by Clarkston to get back in the game.
The Wolves defended several good passing attacks, but with 5:25 remaining the opening period, DCC’s, Tyler O’Brien slipped a shot along the goal line past Clarkston goaltender Brady Damien to open the scoring. With 4:04 remaining, the Wolves’ power play managed three good shots on DCC but were denied. DCC out shot the visitors 15-7 for the opening period.
The Shamrocks added another goal at 12:41 in the second period, to up their lead by two goals.
At 11:18 remaining, the Wolves were presented a two-man advantage on minor penalties called simultaneously on DCC for roughing and tripping. The Wolves responded with a passing attack, allowing a perfect shot from the top of the face off circle by Ryan Wilford on the right point, for the power play goal. Precision passes by Kyle Lynch and Eric Wade, set up the Wolves only score of the game.
The Shamrocks carried the shot advantage 10-5 in the second stanza.
The Wolves had a brief power play on a Shamrock penalty in the third period as Trey Damien was assessed a minor penalty for cross checking, but the Shamrocks committed a roughing foul, forcing a more wide open four-on-four match up for less than a minute.
DCC added two more scores less than two minutes apart and the Wolves took three minor penalties in the final five minutes to stall a comeback bid.
“Our special teams were very sharp, we killed all seven penalties, but that just makes sustaining a scoring attack that much more difficult,” said Bryer. “Our power play looked good, which accounted for our scoring effort. We know we can play with any team. We just need to sharpen our discipline a little more.”
It was the first game the Wolves were out shot by an opponent, with the final tally ending at 42-13 for the Shamrocks.
The Wolves (3-5-1, 3-0 OAA Red) are home this week as they Detroit Country Day on Thursday at 6 p.m. and OAA Red foe Lake Orion on Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Both games are at Detroit Skating Club, 888 Denison Court in Bloomfield Hills. — Jack Leech

  Clarkston Athletics, Hockey