By Jeff Vanek
Special Writer for The Review
Lake Orion’s varsity hockey team started its 2011 season by competing in the Novi Showcase tournament last weekend. Despite playing hard, the Dragons came up a goal short in both games.
Friday’s contest against Northville, coached by Clint Robert who led the Dragons to the semi-finals in the state tournament last year, was a physical back-and-forth battle which ended in a 2-1 loss.
‘There were a lot of penalties and they killed the flow of the game,? Lake Orion Head Coach Nick Field said. ‘Northville scored a 5-on-3 goal and a shorthanded goal, but when we played five-on-five, we were good and controlled the play.?
On Saturday, Lake Orion played Livonia Stevenson, a program with a long tradition of producing great teams and players. In a physical game, the Dragons came up short again, 3-2. The team fell behind early, 2-0, in the first period, before Shane Stockwell answered with a goal assisted by Brad Bogus and Mark Nylen.
In the second period, the Dragons responded again with a pretty tic-tack-toe goal by Justin McKelvey, with assists from David Otto and Trevor Knight. Unfortunately, Stevenson put the close contest away with a third period goal.
Looking for its first win, Lake Orion next heads to Traverse City for a Thanksgiving weekend tournament.