Metro High School Invitational reports – Friday

By Brian Kalisher –

Temperatures are dropping, the holidays are approaching, and local rinks are gearing up to play host to their respective high school hockey teams for another season.

On Nov. 18 and 19, Novi Ice Arena held the 10^th annual Metro High School Invitational.  While holiday gifts will be unwrapped soon enough, the two-day high school hockey tournament – starting Friday and continuing into Saturday evening – was an opportunity for ten local teams to tear open their 2011-12 campaigns.  After all, hockey season just wouldn’t be complete without a little school spirit thrown in.  Five teams from the Kensington Lakes Activities Association and five from the Oakland Activities Association squared off – each club playing two games against clubs from the opposing association.

Recaps from some of Friday’s games:

Northville 2, Lake Orion 1 (Friday)

Northville and Lake Orion squared off in the 6 p.m. time slot Friday night.  Skating on their home ice, the Mustangs posted a 2-1 win in front of a large and rowdy student section.

“I was happy with the way [our team] performed, we really had a stinker our first scrimmage game, we were concerned there wasn’t any getup [or] any heart,” said Northville Head Coach Clint Robert.  “I thought our guys battled real well today.”

The big story of the game was that the clubs combined for 19 penalties.  Each team had plenty of power play opportunities – despite only three goals being scored in the game.

After some back and forth action in the opening frame, defenseman Kenneth Kosinski netted a buzzer-beater for Northville to give them the first lead. Defenseman Alex Shuart and forward Clay Neal recorded the assists.

Lake Orion’s Brad Bogus tied the game 29 seconds into the second period, assisted by Shane Stockwell and David Otto. Northville goalie Jake Pawloski made a couple key saves to keep the score knotted at one and help his team weather a momentum shift.

At the 5:30 mark, Northville co-captain Ben Crabill lit the lamp, putting his team up 2-1.  The unassisted shorthanded goal ended up being the difference-maker in the contest, giving Northville their first win – and a chance to celebrate with their enthusiastic student section by slamming up against the boards near the crowd to honor their fans and classmates.

“I think it’s a good tournament, it’s quality teams – it gives you an opportunity to see where your team is at early,” Robert said. “You get to see some other teams too, and it’s good for high school hockey in general.”

Farmington North/Harrison 3, Novi 2 (Friday)

The Novi Wildcats and Farmington Hills Flyers squared off after the conclusion of the Northville/Lake Orion game. The home-ice advantage wasn’t enough for the Wildcats, who dropped a 3-2 decision to the Flyers.

“I thought we worked hard, we can be better obviously in the scoring touches and stuff like that,” said Flyers Head Coach Ken Anderson.  “But we pride ourselves on relentless pursuit of the puck, and I thought we did that today.”

Farmington Hills opened the scoring 1:30 into the first period on a goal from forward Frank Awdish, assisted by forward Jake Ladouceur and defenseman Justin Brereton.

The Wildcats tied the game with a power-play goal from forward Curtis Herzog at the 6:54 mark.  The Novi defensive unit made an outstanding play at the point to hold the puck in, fired at the net, and Herzog was there for the rebound.  Assists went to defenseman Kent Burnett and winger Dylan Shepard.

Farmington Hills regained the lead 10:51 into the second period with an unassisted goal by Dylan Shepard – who posted a goal and two assists on the night.

With 9:35 left in the third period, the Flyers padded their lead on a rebound goal from forward Jared Vanvalkenburg, assisted by Awdish and Reede Burnett.

Novi put up a late effort – the Herzog, Burnett, Shepard group finding the score sheet the same way again – notching a goal with 4:00 remaining in the game to make it 3-2.  But the Farmington Flyers held on for a solid win to start their season.

“[This tournament] is a great deal, it’s a real good deal,” said Anderson.  “Coming into this kind of atmosphere, get your guys acclimated to the high school game, [there are] all kinds of teams here to watch each other play, so it’s pretty cool.”

Full list of Friday scores:

South Lyon 8, Rochester United 0
Stevenson 4, Farmington 2
Northville 2, Lake Orion 1
Churchill 9, Clarkston 2
FH North/Harrison 3, Novi 2