Lake Orion blanks Macomb Dakota for first regional since 2007
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ST. CLAIR SHORES — Back to back losses to Farmington and Clarkston took Lake Orion out of the regular season title chase in the OAA Red Division. Those two late-January losses turned out to be the turning point of the Dragons’ hockey season.
Lake Orion captured its second regional championship in school history in four trips to the regional finals, topping Macomb Dakota 2-0 Saturday night at the Great Lakes Sports City Arena in St. Clair Shores to add to its seven-game win streak.
The Dragons (19-7-1) advance to Wednesday’s Division 1 state quarterfinals, where it will face St. Clair Shores Unified at 7 p.m. at the same arena. Lake Orion defeated St. Clair Shores 7-4 in a non-league game back in December.
“I think when we lost to Farmington and Clarkston in the matter of a couple of days, that turned out to be the turning point for us,” said Lake Orion coach Clint Robert. “I think we kind of turned it around after that. We’ve been playing a lot better hockey since then. The guys talked about it in the preseason that they wanted to get to the Final four and we were playing really inconsistent hockey.”
After scoring 18 goals in its first two tournament games, Lake Orion only scored twice against Dakota, but the Dragons’ defense made it stand to give the school its first regional title since 2007.
“I know we weren’t clicking as well offensively as we were in our first two games, but the important thing was we won,” said Robert. “We’re now in the quarterfinals and anything can happen when you get to this stage.”
Lake Orion, which held a 35-23 shots edge on Dakota, scored a goal in both the first and second periods to account for the game’s scoring.
Corbin Rainey netted what proved to the game winner at the 10:31 mark of the first period, with assists from Brett Reed and Jessie Cameron. Daniel Chapie scored an insurance tally at 5:10 of the second period, this time with Justin McKevley and Calvin Vaughn picking up the helpers for the Dragons.
Dominic Juncaj drew the start in goal and notched 23 saves for the shutout.
“We have been playing both goalies all year, but for the tournament we decided to go with Dom, and as long as we don’t give up a bunch of goals early,” said Robert. “We know that we have two capable guys back there in goal.”
Category: High School, Lake Orion, Prep Wraps
