Cranes Split in MIHL Play

Cranbrook Varsity Boys Hockey met up with two MIHL members last week and came away with a split.  The Cranes (15-7-1, MIHL 7-3-1-1) lost on Wednesday to Brother Rice 1 – 0 in a game dominated by defense.  On Saturday, Cranbrook played Grosse Pointe North in their final MIHL game of the year and avenged their earlier season loss to the Norsemen with a 3 – 2 victory.   That win guaranteed the Cranes a second place finish in the MIHL standings behind first place Catholic Central. 

It was a good strong finish to the MIHL schedule for Cranbrook according to Head Coach Andy Weidenbach, “The league is very strong top to bottom, you have to earn every point you get.  As we’ve often said, it’s great preparation for the state tournament.  The Brother Rice game was a good high school hockey game, good defense, very few penalties (9) and a lot of action.  It was close and neither team could generate much offense.”

In that game, senior Stephen Hibbard netted the game's only goal in the 3rd period on an assist from junior Jake Jazkolski. Junior goaltender P.J. Bridges made 27 saves in goal for Rice (11-7) while CK sophomore goalie Aaron Alkema finished with 19 saves.

The game against GP North almost mirrored their earlier season game except for the outcome.  Cranbrook goalie, senior Oliver Stahl, faced only 10 shots while his counterpart in the GP North goal, Mike Held, was peppered with over 40 shots on goal.  The scoring for Cranbrook started in the 1^st period when senior Alex Loewenstein was awarded a penalty shot after being dragged down on his break away attempt.  Loewenstein deftly stick side on Held to put CK up 1 – 0.  Cranbrook struck again in the 1^st period when two sophomores connected on a goal mouth play.  Blake Manginell’s pass found Cameron Heath stick and Heath was able to bury the puck into the net.

GP North struck back in the 2^nd period when Steven Herron’s quick shot eluded Stahl and tightened the score to 2 -1.  Both teams scored powerplay goals in the 3^rd period to make the final 3 – 2 in favor of Cranbrook.  Senior co-captain Patrick Brown scored for the Cranes with assists going to junior Spencer Tamler and senior Will Miller.  North’s J. P. Lucchese scored with 0.49 left in the game to close out the scoring. 

“We need to develop a little more intensity going to the net.  We are able to generate shots but we’re not generating a lot of goals.  The powerplay is getting better and our penalty kill is becoming much more effective,” said Weidenbach.