Hoping to exorcise its intra-league demons, Clarkston entered its fifth-consecutive OAA contest against Farmington on Saturday winless in league play, their only points coming from ties.
Clarkston’s 3-1 victory over the Falcons (6-7-1, 4-5 OAA) earned the Wolves (3-8-3, 1-5-2 OAA) two more points, vaulting them ahead of Royal Oak.
Clarkston jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, with goals from Aaron Podbielski and Chris Salo in the only period the Wolves out-shot the Falcons, 8-3. Farmington held the advantage overall, 24-13.
After Eric Salo put the Wolves up 3-0 in the third period, the Falcons scored their lone goal with four minutes remaining. Farmington had a good chance with a six-on-three situation with two minutes remaining, but could not capitalize on the dual power-play and the extra skater.
‘We held them off and got the win, it was really good.? Clarkston coach Bryan Krygier said.
Garrett Knappe won his second game of the season, making 23 saves.
‘He’s a good goaltender, he needs to stay focused and not let in soft goals and start winning games,? Krygier said.
‘And he did that against Farmington.?
The Wolves are playing as Krygier predicted in the pre-season.
‘We’re getting to the point where we need to be playing,? he said.
Krygier is hoping the team can keep the ball rolling with a difficult stretch of games on the horizon
‘Our schedule is so tough in the second half, all of our tough games are still coming up,? he said.
‘Hopefully we can take some momentum and hopefully we’ll continue to play better.?
Clarkston meets the Ravens again this Saturday at Royal Oak to settle what they began in a 1-1 tie on Dec. 21. But Before Clarkston gets back to the OAA action, they visit Grosse Point North on Wednesday to take on the Norsemen (6-7, 1-3 MIHL).