Eastern Michigan University’s mens’ hockey team (4-9) took on Slippery Rock University (6-7) on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Both games were played on home ice at Taylor Sportsplex in Taylor, Mich. The Eagles shut out Slippery Rock 7-0 on Friday and won 8-3 on Saturday.
“Overall I was happy that we won our first home game and series of the season,” EMU coach Kevin Gee said. “Those are team goals that we would have liked to take care of a bit sooner but I’m glad we got them out of the way. We played a struggling opponent, but we did what we were supposed to- we outscored them 15-3, outshot them 96-33, and were disciplined for the majority of the weekend.”
Friday’s shutout began with freshman Kory Sosnowski opening the scoring for the Eagles at 12:35 of the first period with assists from senior Bryan Kozlowski and freshman Jon Farkas.
The Eagles struck again at 16:32 with Farkas notching the goal with assists from Kozlowski and junior Tony Gasser.
The Green and White finished out the first period by scoring again at 19:10 with a goal from junior Ryan Faucheux, with assists from freshman James Peplinski and senior Anthony Stankiewicz.
Freshman John Vandenbeurgeury opened the scoring at 3:24 of the second period for the Eagles with assists from sophomore Adam Pinkowski and Peplinski.
Faucheux scored again for the Eagles at 14:15 with an assist from junior Michael Comben.
The third period saw two more EMU goals; the first at 13:01 from freshman Tommy Carey with assists from Stankiewicz and freshman Lucas Linville and then at 16:51 from Pinkowski with an assist from Kozlowski.
“Bryan [Kozlowski] has been consistently one of our best offensive players for his four years with us,” Gee said. “Multiple point weekends do not surprise me from him anymore. What impresses me is the level of maturity he’s showing in his senior year- his work ethic, commitment to playing the system have come a long way and I’m proud of him. He's been a good role model for our young players and is our leading scorer right now.”
The winning continued Saturday for the Green and White as they took the game 8-3.
Just 29 seconds into the game Kozlowski opened the scoring for the Eagles with assists going to Farkas and Sosnowski.
Eastern scored again at 2:08 on a goal from Peplinski with assists from Faucheux and Stankiewicz.
Slippery Rock finally got on the board seven minutes into the first period. However the Eagles answered back just 58 seconds later on a goal from Kozlowski with assists from Linville and sophomore Kyle Sandera.
The Eagles scored two more goals in the third; one at 14:50 from freshman Tommy Carey with assists going to senior Jordan Roemer and Farkas and the other at 19:26 from freshman Hunter Ledgerwood with assists from Carey and Roemer to take a commanding 5-1 lead into the second.
The Eagles only scored twice in the second period. The first goal came just ten seconds in on an unassisted goal from freshman Luke Dmytro. The second was at 6:31 from freshman Jack Dobek with assists going to senior Joe Allen and Carey.
Slippery Rock scored twice in the third but the Eagles got the final goal as Farkas scored at 18:51 with an assist from Kozloswki.
“I would have to say that it's difficult to measure your team when you play against a weak opponent, but I was very impressed with some of our freshman and how they contributed with increased ice time,” Gee said. “Jack Dobek, Hunter Ledgerwood, Matt Angelosanto, John Vandenbeurgury stood out for me. I’m glad I got them a few extra shifts this weekend against Slippery Rock, they need the experience to continue to develop.”
Looking Ahead
The Eagles will hit the road for a two-game series against Florida Gulf Coast University Friday. Gee said his team would have to play hard to compete with the Eagles.
“They play a high tempo game and have a great deal of offensive skill,” Gee said. “My plan is to neutralize that offense through our system and concentrate on playing sound team defense. I am looking for a bit more urgency from our players as we need to build on our wins from this past weekend as well.”
The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m. Friday at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla.
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Follow Jillian Seach on Twitter: @JSeachEcho
