HOCKEY: Stoney Creek ices Utica in pre-regional; Rochester United blanks LCN

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

ROCHESTER HILLS — In recent years, Rochester Stoney Creek’s boys hockey has enjoyed some success in the postseason. The Cougars have skated to at least the regional finals the past five seasons and even won a regional crown in 2010.

Stoney Creek took the first step Tuesday of equaling or bettering that feat — and at Utica’s expense.

The Cougars ousted the Chieftains for the third straight year in a Division 2 pre-regional at The Onyx, posting a 3-0 victory in a regional where there are no ranked teams.

Last year, Stoney Creek blanked Utica, 8-0, in the first round, and appears to be picking up steam in the later stages of this season.

“We’ve been rolling here for about a month,” admitted Stoney Creek coach Ian Smith, who took over last summer and has his team peaking at the right time. “This game wasn’t our best, and (Utica) did a god job at slowing us down, trapping us in the offensive zone and neutral zone. We took some bad penalties, but we fought through it. A win is a win this time of year. We got to get better and we got to build on this.”

After a 10-14 regulars season, the Cougars are trying to rediscover their postseason magic. Last season they reached the regional title game before taking Port Huron Northern to the brink and falling 2-1.

“We’ve got to play the hockey we’ve played the past two months,” offered Smith, who feels his team has as good of a chance as any to win the regional. “We’ve had opportunities to win some games against really good teams. We had Clarkston down, we had St. Clair Shores (Unified) down and we had Farmington down. We couldn’t finish (those games). We have to learn from our mistakes and we can’t repeat the mistakes that got them there. We’re looking to go as far as we can, get through the regional and see what happens.”

The Cougars (11-14-0) overcame a slow start, going into the second period in a 0-0 stalemate, before getting untracked with a pair of goals in the second period. Stoney Creek tacked on another insurance goal in the third period to ice the Chieftains’ season.

Senior Dom Zuelch finally put the Cougars on the board with 12:44 left in the second period, trouncing on a rebound in front of the Utica net following a slap shot from sophomore Josh Niederhauser.

Senior Brian Gill upped the advantage to 2-0 with 7:11 left in the period when he cashed in on a breakaway. Senior Matt Zuelch and senior Drew Stanbury set up the goal.

The Cougars peppered the Chieftains’ net all night, but junior goaltender Ethan Smith made 36 saves for Utica. Smith stopped a breakaway late in the first period and had several acrobatic stops throughout the contest.

“He played good. He made the saves he’s supposed to make. He makes it nothing to nothing after the first period,” said Utica coach George Dristas. “He gives us a chance to go with a power play and we couldn’t get momentum.”

Scoring chances were few and far between in the second half of the game for Utica (5-19-1) and the Chieftains couldn’t provide Smith with any offensive support.

“I honestly think we only had one or two really good scoring chances the whole game,” sighed Dristas. “We’re not going to win a game that way. They beat us to all the loose pucks and they wanted it more than we did.

“It’s tough when you only have six forwards and five (defensemen) available,” said Dristas, who only had 15 players on the roster and not all were available for the contest. We just got a little tired.”

The Cougars put the game away with a third goal with 8:36 left. Dom Zuelch netted his second tally of the contest off feeds from brother Matt Zuelch and Gill.

Stoney Creek outshot Utica by a commanding 39-14 edge. Maxx Grant made 14 stops for the shutout between the pipes for the Cougars, who will face Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the regional semifinals, also at The Onyx.

“We recently had a stretch where we played three games in five nights. That’s just crazy,” noted Dristas of his short-handed team’s late-season scheduling heading into regional play. “When I got a call in August, we only had eight players. We had to recruit. I give the guys credit. We kept hanging in there and teams that whooped our butts early in the season we gave them games later in the season.”

ROCHESTER 3, MACOMB L’ANSE CREUSE NORTH 0: Rochester United opened up Division 1 pre-regional play with this shutout victory at the Macomb Ice Arena.

Rochester outshot L’Anse Creuse North 32-13 in the contest.

Anthony Facca and Matt Bowery both scored late in the first period for Rochester.  Brent Boudreau added a power play goal in the third period to cap the scoring.

Brody Blair made 13 saves for the shutout for Rochester, which improved to 10-15-0 overall and will face state-ranked Utica Eisenhower in the second round Wednesday at Macomb Ice Arena.

DIVISION 2

ROMEO 6, OXFORD 1: Romeo stunned Oxford with three quick first-period goals and eventually held a 5-0 lead in the third period before settling for this 6-1 triumph in a Division 2 pre-regional win Tuesday at Glacier Pointe Arena.

The Bulldogs (10-15-1) advance to Thursday’s regional semifinals at Glacier Pointe to face New Baltimore Anchor Bay at 8 p.m.

Rochester Stoney Creek and Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse remain on the other half of the bracket.

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