Every varsity hockey senior wants to make the most of their limited time left on the ice, but after last Wednesday’s performance against the Waterford Mott Corsairs, Clarkston players were disappointed.
The Wolves had a heartbreaking loss 45 seconds into overtime, getting beat 4-3 after they worked to tie the score back up in the third period.
Clarkston has eight seniors on their roster this season, including four-year varsity player Austin Morse.
‘Going into tonight, we were trying to pump up the seniors because it was our last game,? said Morse.
The seniors on the team know they have to set examples for the underclassmen both on and off the ice.
‘I try to be a leader and motivate everyone both verbally and by working hard,? said senior Connor Hughes, who has been on varsity for two years.
When the puck dropped to begin senior night, both teams came out playing solid, aggressive defense.
They seemed to be evenly matched throughout the entire first period with constant back and forth action during the opening period.
Neither team converted on the few potential scoring chances they had, leaving the game tied 0-0 going into the second.
Clarkston seniors were honored between the first and second periods, which appeared to set emotions high from that point on.
But in the second period, the Wolves struggled to keep Mott out of their zone.
Senior goalie Troy Fasseel kept Clarkston in the game as long as he could with a number of miraculous saves.
However, at the 8:09 mark, Mott finally scored, giving them a 1-0 lead. Then, a minute and a half later, Mott put in another goal, making it 2-0.
Thirty seconds after Mott’s second goal, Sophomore Adam Larkin avenged the two goal eruption from the Corsairs, scoring a goal for Clarkston, putting them back into the game 2-1.
Not forty seconds later, Mott scored yet another goal making the game a 3-1 contest going into the third.
Clarkston went into the third skating hard, hoping to make senior night one to remember.
‘Going into the third period, we wanted to go out there, hit them and put up some goals as quickly as possible,? said junior Brad Pizzey.
The Wolves did just that ? the first power play of the period for the Wolves resulted in a goal scored by Pizzey after an assist from senior Dillon Drayer.
With the score now 2-3, Clarkston wore Mott down by keeping it in the Corsairs? zone for almost the entire period. Clarkston tied the game up at 3-3 with 5:42 remaining in the period when sophomore Zach Goatee snuck a wrap around goal in on the Corsair’s goalie.
With two minutes to go, Mott appeared to turn on the jets, but goalie Fasseel made several impressive stops for the Wolves, which sent the game into overtime.
‘We weren’t going to change the gameplan going into overtime because it worked so well in the third, we were hoping it would work for us in the end,? said Morse.
In overtime, Mott retaliated from Clarkston’s dominating third period by putting the puck in the net only 45 seconds in, winning the game 4-3 and ruining the Wolves? senior night.
Fasseel finished the game with 22 saves and the Wolves made 37 shots on the net.
* * *
The boys lost to Rochester United on Saturday night, 4-1. The lone goal was scored by Brad Pizzey in the second period.
Clarkston made 40 shots on the net and goalie Alec Gildner had 18 saves.
The Wolves played Grand Blanc in the first round of Pre-Regionals on Tuesday night, check www.ClarkstonNews.com to see who moves on to play Flint Kearsley on Thursday.