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BOYS HOCKEY: U-D Jesuit shows no mercy on Troy in regional finals

| March 3, 2013 | Comments (0)

BY JAKE LOURIM

STUDENT CORRESPONDENT

j.lourim@comcast.net

TROY — The Troy hockey team knew it headed into Saturday’s regional final against Detroit U-D Jesuit as tremendous underdogs.

“We had to play a perfect game to be competitive,” Troy coach Tim Zimmerman said. “Sometimes we played perfect, sometimes we didn’t, and the puck went in the net.”

U-D Jesuit pulled ahead early and routed Troy 8-0 in a Division 1 regional final Saturday at the Troy Sports Center.

According to the U. S. High School Hockey state rankings, U-D Jesuit (18-8-1) came in at No. 7, with Troy (11-12-4) at No. 128.

“They were coming so hard,” Troy senior alternate captain Edmund Qiao said. “We hung with them when we were five-on-five, but they killed us on power plays. That’s a top-ten team — they’re going to capitalize on their power plays.”

The Cubs scored their first goal on a power play on an initial shot that squirted through the legs of Troy goalie Mike Fisher. They finished it by tapping it into the net.

U-D scored again with 5:19 left on a pass into the middle for an easy shot, and again at the one-minute mark on a wrist shot from the left wing.

“They don’t have a bad player on their team,” Zimmerman said. “They keep coming, keep coming, keep coming. They’re all very good players. I don’t see a weakness.”

The Colts managed only one shot on goal in a first period played almost entirely in their own zone. U-D kept the pressure high and the puck moving around, yet always had a man back to defend against any breakaways.

U-D scored three goals on the power play and two more shorthanded.

“It was really the power play,” U-D coach Rick Bennetts said. “Our special teams allowed us to get rolling.”

“We tried to be patient,” Zimmerman said. “We had to take the puck outside. We had to have really good puck clears.”

The Cubs scored two more goals in the first two minutes of the second period, and by then, the game was all but out of reach. They scored again with 20 seconds left in the period.

The students showed up in large numbers before the game, anticipating the regional final since Wednesday’s 5-2 victory over Troy Athens. But U-D Jesuit’s quick outburst quickly quieted them. Many students left at the end of the first period, and almost all of them were gone before the third period started.

Still, the 2013 team relished every minute of its last game together.

“It was my last game,” Qiao said. “This is it — this is it for this team, it for these seniors.”

“I challenged them every period not to give up,” Zimmerman said. “Anyone could do that. Anyone could quit. I refuse to let them do that.”

U-D put in its seventh goal with 15:16 left in the game. The Cubs ended the game on a mercy rule with 6:15 left, when they stole a pass headed across the ice and finished it with an easy shot.

The goal ended the game and season on a sour note for Troy, but Zimmerman said his team exceeded his expectations.

“Especially the last three weeks, we have played really, really well together,” said, Zimmerman, who thought U-D gave Troy its first loss since mid-February.

U-D Jesuit now moves on to play Utica Eisenhower (No. 22 according to the USHSHO) in the state quarterfinals Wednesday. The finals are next Friday and Saturday at Compuware Arena in Plymouth.

(Jake Lourim is a senior at Troy High School and a member of the S.H.P. Media Group / www.northoaklandsports.com Student Correspondence Program. He is publisher of website www.troycoltsportsupdate.com and a member of the Troy school newspaper editorial staff. He can be reached by e-mail at j.lourim@comcast.net)

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About Dan Stickradt: DAN STICKRADT | SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com View author profile.

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