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Ann Arbor, MI- On an emotional evening at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, Eastern Michigan defeated the University of Michigan-Dearborn 4-3 on Mike York's game winning goal with 16 seconds left in the game. Saturday night was also the final game for eight Eastern Michigan players.

Senior Night started off very tensely with hard hitting and play. Both teams had several opportunities to score, but neither could. At the 8:34 point of the first period Mike Schmidt sent the Dearborn crowd into a cheer as the puck went past Jake Pruss. Eastern Michigan came out in this game with a fire, went out and were hitting everyone they could, as hard as they could. You could tell that they wanted this game badly from the beginning. However, that goal diminished a bit of the fire. Eastern Michigan however did respond with a nice goal from Craig Morton at 11:35. The period ended at 1-1. 

The second period of the game was another period of hard hitting, and action. However, for the second straight period in a row Michigan-Dearborn scored their second goal of the game, as it just snuck past Jake Pruss. This sent the EMU crowd into a state of worry and despair. However, it also seemed that at this moment Eastern Michigan was ready to play some hockey. Eastern responded with two quick goals, Craig Morton's second and Dane Dresch's first, to put the score up to 3-2 in Eastern's favor. Michigan-Dearborn responded though to tie the game up on Mike Schmidt's goal to make it 3-3, with the period ending at that point.

The third period of the game was extremely tense, with both teams having several chances. The last minute of the game showed Eastern Michigan trying to do anything in their power to win the game, and Mike York just shot the puck past the Michigan-Dearborn goalie with 16 seconds left to drive the EMU crowd into a frenzy. Michigan-Dearborn ended the game with a late rally, but it was no use, Eastern won the game.

No doubts about it, this game was wonderful to watch. Michigan-Dearborn played good stiff defense and shut Eastern down for a large majority of the game. However, Eastern scored the goals when they needed it. I'm also interested in noting Eastern's results after this game. Eastern won the game in the last 20 seconds, which can be a huge momentum boost towards their future games, it demonstrates that they can score late. Hopefully this is the start of a nice run at the ACHA National Tournament and the CSCHL Tournament.

Tonight's game was also the final game in Green and White for eight of the Eagles. These eight players were the backbone and basis for the success of the Eagles for the past four years. Eastern Michigan hockey went from 18-19-3 in 1998-1999 to a combined record of 82-23 since, an approximate winning percentage of 78%. Eastern Michigan in the past three years also only lost 7 times at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, compiling a wonderful record. These seniors have devoted a large amount of their college lives towards the Eastern Michigan hockey program and should be commended on being responsible for helping to make Eastern hockey one of the best in the ACHA.

These seniors include(stats as of January 27th):

#9 Mike McNamara- 13 Goals, 9 Assists This Season, 106 Penalty Minutes. One of Eastern Michigan's defensive enforcers.

#10 Dane Dresch- 21 Goals, 18 Assists This Season(5th in Points). A hometown hero who Eastern will severely miss for his amazing scoring and a wonderful slapshot.

#12 Kevin Haggarty- An Eastern Michigan Hockey Player who returned to play. He showed a lot of ability tonight against Michigan-Dearborn

#19 Scott Bricker- 5 Goals, 21 Assists- One of Eastern Michigan's best defensemen. Considered around the country as one of the best defensemen in the ACHA.

#20 Mike Kellermeyer- 8 Goals, 10 Assists This Season. The Captain for Eastern Michigan Hockey this past season, another who will be severely missed by Eastern Hockey.

#21 Brandon Love- 7 Goals, 17 Assists This Season. Another player that has done a large amount for Eastern hockey over the past few seasons.

#22 Craig Morton- 7 Goals, 18 Assists This Season. A great player for the Eastern Michigan hockey team, who came up big against Michigan-Dearborn tonight. My sister also appreciates the good heart that he showed in signing the jersey that she bought. :)

#27 Mike York- 2 Goals, 19 Assists. A player who always seemed to be willing to do anything for the Eastern Michigan hockey club on defense. Also scored the winning goal tonight.

Eastern Michigan's Seniors accounted for about 44% of the scoring for the Eagles this season. Eastern Michigan will have to do a wonderful job of recruiting to replace this immense amount of talent that will be lost. Again, I invite the students of Eastern Michigan to congratulate each of them as they resume their studies in Ypsilanti. They deserve it, and they deserve the attention.

Looking Ahead:
Eastern Michigan will not return to the Ann Arbor Ice Cube this season, but will go on two of the largest road trips of the season. The first is in St. Louis for the CSCHL Championships, which will be started off with a matchup against the flaming Wisconsin-Whitewater team. Eastern Michigan will then be traveling off to the ACHA Nationals in Laurel, MD hosted by the University of Towson for matchups in Group C against Minot State University(looking forward to this one) and the host Towson.

Until next time, let's have all of Eastern Michigan chant: Go Green.

A-
Reasoning: The offense did a lot of things right in this game and came up with the goals at vital times to keep the momentum evenly based. Eastern Michigan shot the puck at the net well, and did a lot of nice passing. For Eastern Michigan to have success offensively, the key is to maintain aggressiveness, and to swarm the net to pick up any rebounds. It seems to me as well that the offense needs to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that come to them, and to score whenever the defense gives them a chance. Tonight, was a good effort from the offense, 4 goals against a team who played wonderful defense is worth an A-. 

A
Reasoning: The defense played quite well. It was a couple of easy shots that got past Pruss. The defense is starting to buy into the fact that they can sacrifice themselves for the team and make the goalies life easier. They were preventing Michigan-Dearborn from doing a lot, despite the three goals in transition. In my mind, the defense needs to continue to sacrifice themselves for the cause and also intercept passes in the offensive zone to the best of their ability. Also, transitional defense needs to be sound. Some teams in the ACHA tournament, including Penn State are very opportunistic about these things, the defense needs to get back while maintaining an aggressive attitude. A difficult task indeed.

B
It was decent tonight. The Power Play and Penalty Kill must be efficient for Eastern to do well out in Laurel and St. Louis.

A-
Eastern Michigan's Goaltending this season has been outstanding in my mind, despite what the hockey101 forums might mention. Pruss and Horton have helped to keep Eastern in all of their games over the year, and won a few themselves too. The goaltending needs to keep this up for Eastern to make a lot of noise in Laurel.

A
Reasoning: A victory on Senior Night is a "sweet" way to end the season at home. 

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