By David Reed
Special to the Review
Congratulations to the Dragons Hockey team for their win in the Region 5 Championship on Saturday, March 5 in the State Playoffs.
Saturday nights have proven good for the team, as they have beaten Farmington, won the OAA championship and, now, the Regional championship – all on consecutive Saturdays.
The Dragons swarmed the offensive zone the entire period as they put 15 shots on net. Jesse Cameron ripped a shot that bounced off the goalie’s pads, Brett Reed picked up the rebound and found Corbin Rainey at the face-off dot. Corbin ripped a hard wrist shot that found the back of the net and brought the crowd to their feet. The period ended 1-0.
‘In the second period the Dragons continued offensive pressure and aggressive back checking. Calvin Vaughn passed to Justin McKelvey at center ice, Justin found a streaking Daniel Chapie for a breakaway on the goalie.
Daniel stick-handled and drew the puck to his backhand to flip the puck over the outstretched goalie for a 2-0 lead.
The third period brought four Dragon penalties including a 5 on 3 powerplay, but the green and white fought through and limited the quality scoring opportunities. Dominic Juncaj played his best game of the playoffs, stopping all 23 shots he faced and gained a shutout victory. One of the keys to the recent success has been not only what the Dragons have done with the puck but without it. The team has aggressively fore-checked and back-checked to limit the number of quality shots and’dominate with puck possession.
Prior to the Region 5 Championship, the Dragons defeated Rochester United in the pre-Regional final game, 4-1 on Wednesday, March 2.
After a scoreless first period, Rochester opened up the scoring in the second. Lake Orion quickly answered as Shane Stockwell cycled the puck to Nick Balavich who fed Dan Blascak at the point for a blistering low slap shot that hit the back of the net to tie the game. Jesse Cameron scored the next two goals as Corbin Rainey and Brett Reed assisted on each goal with tape to tape passing.
Corbin Rainey finished off the scoring with an empty net goal. Dominic Juncaj played well in goal again to secure the victory.
The Dragons improved their overall record to 19-7-1 and will face St. Clair Shores on Wednesday, March 9 at St. Clair Shores in the Quarterfinals.