From Central Michigan Life
By Megan Youngblood
Nine seniors took the ice one last time at Martin Ice Arena for the Central Michigan DIII club hockey team in their sixth tie of the year against the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils.
“Every senior is special and if it wasn’t there for them, we wouldn’t have a program” said head coach Tyler Cataline about his nine seniors. “It’s sad to see them go,”
Before the game the Chippewas and their families paid tribute to seniors Brennan Martin, Austin Whaley, Thomas Rofe, Collin Smith, Justin McComas, Alex Lasky, Joey Simoncelli, Jacob St. Andre and Jorden Cooper.
“It’s been a great experience here,” said senior goaltender Thomas Rofe. “The guys are great and we’ve definitely left our hearts out there”
Lawrence Tech would open the scoring early with a goal one minute into the game. They would control the rest of the game and keep the puck out of their own zone. The Chippewas struggled to get the puck out of their own defensive zone.
Rofe kept the Chippewas in the game with countless glove and blocker saves. Wanting to get in on the action, senior defenseman Alex Lasky swatted a puck that managed to sneak past Rofe and keep it out of the net.
Time was winding down in the first period and the Chippewas had nothing to show far. Doing what they do best and waiting the last minute, junior forward turned defenseman Austin Ritter took a slap shot from the blue line and netted his first goal of his college career and tied the game at one.
“He (Austin) stepped up big time for us this second semester,” Cataline said, “He moved from being a forward to being a defenseman”
Fired up from Ritter’s last minute goal, the Chippewas would continue the scoring with a goal from freshman forward Owen Campbell early in the second to give the Chippewas at 2-1 lead. It wasn’t long after that the Blue Devils would score and tie the game at two.
Senior forward Jorden Cooper would assist the Chippewas in taking the lead with a pass to Campbell, who netted his second of the game and gave the Chippewas a lead once again. As the clock winded down, it looked like the Chippewas were going into the final period ahead one goal but a last second goal from the Blue Devils tied the game at three.
A last second goal wouldn’t stop the Chippewas momentum as freshman forward Isaac Gibbs scored early in the third to give them a 4-3 lead. The early goal fired up the Chippewas as they took control of the game, keeping the Blue Devils out of their own zone.
Gibbs had the chance to extend the lead with a breakaway goal, but the Blue Devils goalie was quicker and managed to poke check the puck away from him. The Chippewas lead was taken away once again when the Blue Devils scored short handed and tied the game at four.
Time wound down and the Chippewas found themselves needing to go to overtime for the sixth time this season.
The Chippewas took control of the overtime period with scoring chances from defenseman Charlie Hayes, Martin and Cooper but were unable to get one past the Blue Devils goaltender. As time was winding down, the Chippewas found themselves tying for the sixth time this season with a final score of 4-4.
The Chippewas play their last regular game of the season at Southfield Sports Arena against the Blue Devils once again on February 12 at 5 p.m.
(Originally published at https://www.cm-life.com/article/2022/02/cmu-mens-hockey-d3-chippewas-club-lawrence-tech)
