Rochester United grounds Flyers in OAA quarterfinals
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER — A season of trials took an upward turn Friday night for Rochester United.
Sixth-seeded Rochester United defeated Farmington Hills Unified, 2-1, in the first-round of the second annual Oakland Activities Association Red Division boys hockey tournament at The Onyx to advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
United will play No. 2 seed Lake Orion, the defending tournament champions, at 8:15 p.m. at the Farmington Hills Ice Arena.
Rochester United (8-14-0) defeated Farmington Hills, a combined team from North Farmington and Harrison, for the second time this season, clipping the higher seeded Flyers, 3-2, in a game last month and then again in the postseason league tourney Friday.
It took United plenty of time this season to find its footing and become a competitive team in a rebuilding campaign under a new head coach.
“I think it took us a lot of time to allow us to get a feel for each other, accustomed to playing with one another,” said first-year Rochester coach Craig Staskowski. “I am in my first year with the program and we had a lot of new players. Plus, we’ve had some injuries where a couple of guys missed several weeks. We have got some of those guys back now and we’re playing much better hockey lately.
“But we beat (Farmington Hills) both times this season. We seem to have their number,” added Staskowski, who coached at nearby Utica last season. “We played a very good defensive game against them.”
Trailing 1-0 midway through the second period, sophomore Evan Asuncion skated in on a breakaway and beat Keith Ladouceuer up high to tie the contest at the 8:02 mark of the second period. Asuncion stole the puck just inside Rochester territory and outraced a pair of defenders before firing the puck into the back of the net.
Rochester took its first lead with 5:28 left in the second frame on a power play goal. Senior Anthony Fracca, who returned to the lineup from an ankle injury, deflected in a close-range shot past Ladouceur to put United up for good. Matt Bowery and Tony Nassar picked up the assists on the play.
Jake Ladouceur staked the Flyers (12-7-2) to a 1-0 lead at the 12:35 mark of the second period. The Flyers could not sustain the momentum.
Sophomore Brody Blair was stellar between the pipes for Rochester United, turning aside 34 of 35 shots.
“It’s funny, but we almost started Brody on the junior varsity at the beginning of the season,” said Staskowski. “We had two seniors ahead of him. But he worked his way into the starting role and has gotten better and better. This was one of his best games yet. He made a lot of key saves, especially in the third period when they were coming at us hard (to try to get the equalizer).”
Ladouceur finished with 16 saves for Farmington Hills, and had t make just four stops in the third period. The Flyers could not provide additional offensive support on the other end and slipped into the consolation bracket.
“Once we took the lead, we didn’t have very many chances, but our defense did a great job and Blair was spectacular,” praised Staskowski. “Now, we’ll have to have a similar effort against Lake Orion.”
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