Lakers split with Michigan

The University of Michigan beat the Lake State hockey team 4-2 on Saturday night at Yost Arena to give the two teams a weekend split.

Michigan (17-11-3, 12-8-3 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) changed its jerseys from white to its home gold, hoping to give its team luck after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Lakers on Friday night. The new jerseys seemed to do the trick early on in the first period.

Brandon Kaleniecki started his team's four-goal scoring surge at 3:49 of the first period when he scored a off a big rebound by sliding the puck past Laker goaltender Jeff Jakaitis. Andrew Ebbett picked up an assist on the goal.

Déjà vu seemed to hit the Lakers (15-8-8, 11-8-4 CCHA) halfway through the period when Kaleniecki scored his second goal of the night at 11:42. Ebbett once again assisted on the goal.

Ebbett picked up his third point of the night when he gave his team a three goal lead at 14:28 of the first period. Kaleniecki and Jason Dest assisted on the goal.

Tyler Swystun stunned the Laker team when he scored to give the Wolverines a four-goal lead.

The Lakers, playing in front of a FSN Detroit television audience for the first time this season, refused to let the Wolverines walk away with the period. Defenseman Mark Adamek stole the puck from a U-of-M forward in the defensive zone and made a long pass to Jeff Rainville. Rainville slid an across-ice pass to Steve McJannet, who found a rushing Kory Scoran.

Scoran flipped a wrist shot past Wolverine goaltender Noah Ruden for his fifth goal of the season. He trimmed U-M's lead to 4-1 at 18:29 of the opening period. With 57 seconds remaining in the period, the Lakers found more luck on a similar play. They once again rushed out of the defensive zone, enabling Nathan Ward to skate straight up center ice. Ward passed to Derek R. Smith, who quickly passed the puck to sophomore Dan Eves. Eves found a wide open left side of the net and flipped in a backhanded wrist shot to put the Lakers within two goals of the Wolverines.

That was the end of the scoring for two teams that combined for nine first-period goals during a hard-fought series.

Lake Superior pulled Jakaitis with a little under two minutes left in the game. The Lakers were unable to score with the extra attacker, and Jakaitis finished with 20 saves.

The Lakers were 0-for-2 on the power play, while the Wolverines were 0-for-4. Michigan out-shot the Lakers, 24-20.

The Lakers return home Friday, Feb. 17, when they will face Northern Michigan. The puck will drop at 7:35 p.m. The Lakers will travel to Marquette to play the Wildcats next Saturday night. The Upper Peninsula home-and-home series will be featured on CCHA Digest.

*** FRIDAY:

The Lake Superior State hockey team sailed past the University of Michigan Friday night by winning 3-2 in overtime at Yost Ice Arena for its first victory over the Wolverines since March of 2002 in the playoffs.

Laker captain Steve McJannet silenced the U-M crowd when he put his team in the lead at 6:28 of the first period. McJannet scored his sixth goal of the season on a pass from Jeff Rainville. Defenseman Kory Scoran also assisted on the goal.

Michigan's Jason Dest revived the crowd at 10:40 of the first period when he scored just his second goal of the season, tying the game 1-1. Danny Fardig and Tyler Swystun assisted on the goal.

T.J. Hensick gave the Wolverines their first lead of the game at 12:52. Kevin Porter assisted on the goal.

The Wolverines entered the second period with a one-man advantage over the Lakers. U-M failed to score on two power-play opportunities of the period.

LSSU junior forward Trent Campbell tied the game at two at 9:19 of the second period. Campbell's eleventh goal of the season set up by a brilliant pass from freshman Troy Schwab and junior Dominic Osman.

The Lakers and the Wolverines ended the second period tied at two.

Despite the Lakers outplaying the Wolverines in the third period, the two teams ended regulation in a 2-2 stalemate.

LSSU and U-M battled back and forth during the first two and half minutes of overtime. LSSU senior defenseman Kory Scoran threaded the needle to McJannet, who rifled a shot past Michigan goaltender Noah Ruden to score the game-winning goal with 1:59 left in overtime.

This was the first win over the Wolverines for any of the current Laker players. LSSU also snapped a 10-game losing streak against U-M that included six straight losses at Yost.

The Wolverines outshot the Lakers, 38-36. The Lakers were 0-for-2 on the power play, while U-M finished 0-for-4.

McJannet was named the Perani Cup first star of the game and Jakaitis was the second star.

(Courtesy of the LSSU Sports Information Department)