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Sault ties suit up for Lake State against Team USA

The college hockey season has begun for the Lake Superior State University Lakers. The Lakers faced the US National Team Development Program Under-18 team Sunday evening, dropping a 2-1 decision in overtime.

The college hockey season has begun for the Lake Superior State University Lakers.

The Lakers faced the US National Team Development Program Under-18 team Sunday evening, dropping a 2-1 decision in overtime.

Patrick Khoddrenko scored on the power play 3:37 into overtime to give the US team the victory.

After posting a 7-20-1 record last season, Lakers Coach Damon Whitten said following Sunday’s game the team showed some positives.

“There were some positives for sure,” said Lakers Coach Damon Whitten. “Our pace has increased and our skill has improved a little bit.”

The Lakers played the game with 15 forwards and seven defencemen, making things tougher to get players into a flow in the game.

“It’s hard when you dress five lines and an extra defenceman, nobody’s playing in the flow,” Whitten said about having the extra bodies in the lineup. “We thought about not doing it but we wanted to get guys some looks. We wanted to see who works and who fits and there are some guys who have really earned a chance to play.”

Scott Patterson had the lone goal for the Lakers while goaltender Gordon Defiel stopped 16 shots before making way for Nick Kossoff, who entered the game early in the third period. Kossoff stopped 10 shots the rest of the way.

Clayton Keller had the other goal for Team USA while Adam Fox assisted on both goals. Goaltender Joseph Woll stopped 26 shots.

“We battled hard,” said USNTDP Coach Danton Cole. “When we have these back-to-back D1 games with our guys, it’s tough.

“I liked the way our guys battled,” Cole added. “That’s why we go through this stuff, to keep battling and physically hang in there until you can get the game going.”

The game marked the first non-intrasquad game for freshman defenceman Owen Headrick.

“He’s making a good adjustment,” Whitten said of the Garden River, ON product. “Owen had a pretty dynamic skill-set from the back-end in terms of his power play ability and puck touches and that’s something that was an area we needed to address.

The weekend was also the beginning of Sault Ste. Marie native Aidan Wright’s sophomore season with the Lakers.

“He’s a phenomenal student-athlete,” Whitten said of the sophomore blueliner. “Anything you ask of Aidan, he’s willing to do it for you.”

Playing for Team USA Sunday was Keeghan Howdeshell, who was selected in the tenth round of the 2014 OHL Priority Selection by the Soo Greyhounds.

“He’s a gifted skated and some really good physical attributes,” Cole said of the centre. “He’s done a lot of work learning the game and some of the subtler points.

“He’s been coming along and he was really effective tonight,” Cole also said. “When he plays that way and he’s driving, he’s a good hockey player.”

Howdeshell is committed to Ferris State for the 2016-17 college hockey season.

Lake State is back in action next weekend at the Ice Breaker Tournament in Portland, ME.

The Lakers open the tournament on Friday against North Dakota before wrapping up the weekend the following day against Michigan State. Puck drop for both games is set for 4:30 p.m. EST.


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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