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Dearborn,  MI- The Towson Tigers took the first crack against the defending CSCHL Champions, but in a hard fought, well played, exciting game couldn't defeat Eastern Michigan, as the Eagles won 4-1. The Eagles played a very impressive defensive based game, although Towson was able to get several good runs at goalie Sam Horton.

The first period was quite a hard-hitting affair with both teams shoving their collective weight around. Both teams in the first period skated to a 0-0 draw; which seemed to be a feeling out period for both sides. The reason the game remained scoreless though was very simple; the gameplay of the two goalies. Both teams had several amazing opportunities stopped by some wonderful play from Sam Horton and Kevin Birnstill. 

The second period started off very scary for Eastern Michigan; Towson struck 4:16 into the game on their lone goal scored by Brett Kehler. This put the first number on the Michigan-Dearborn scoreboard and admittedly got the EMU crowd a bit tense as their screaming starting to get a little more edgy. It was a very nice play admittedly. Eastern Michigan scored their first goal 5 minutes later on one of the stranger plays that I have seen. The puck was in the air, Craig Morton grabbed it out of the air, set it down on the ice and shot it past the Towson goalie. To be honest, at that stage of the hockey game it would of taken something like that to beat Birnstill. Just wait until you see it on Video. =)

Eastern Michigan then took advantage of a slight misfortune for Towson which led to a breakaway for Ryan Gauthier to shoot home the Short-Handed goal which decisively shifted the momentum into Eastern's favor. Two minutes later, a third goal was scored on a wonderful deflection by McNamara into the back of the net. Eastern Michigan then took a well deserved break, going from nervewrecking to seemingly in control. It was really hard to blame the Towson goalie for any of the three plays. The first one, I was amazed that they were allowed to do that. The second one, a breakaway is the fault of the players and Towson really hung their goalie out to dry.

Eastern in the third period basically controlled the play; making great defensive plays including one by Nathaniel Hawk in which he dived in front of the net; and knocked a puck that was inches from being a goal. Sam Horton also made a similar play. Eastern then received a goal due to Towson's goalie making his first real mistake of the game. He went out to get the puck; and Scott Bricker pounded home the fourth goal with 1 second left; just for good measure.

The Towson Hockey Team really showed a lot of guts and heart and played one amazing game against EMU. It was outstanding hockey; but surprisingly marred with an immense amount of penalties. Not counting a 10 minute misconduct penalty by Garbutt; Eastern had 22 minutes of penalties vs 18 minutes for Towson. It was quite surprising about some of the calls; but then again each referee set as different boundaries in which they are willing to allow the players to cross. It gave Towson a lot of opportunities but Eastern was able to skillfully kill them; or were cancelled out by a similar penalty.

Towson should be a challenge at Nationals for anyone that plays them. Not only will they be hosting the tournament; but they've got some very talented players and play a hard-nosed style which could cause some teams some trouble. Towson also seems to have a pair of good goalies. If you wanted to pick a sleeper in the National Tournament, this would be a great sleeper.

Just to conclude my thoughts on Day #1, let me mention some details about the other two parts of the games I witnessed.

Western Michigan losing to Drexel in OT- We arrived at the UMD Arena with 11:00 minutes remaining in the third period. We arrived with the score tied at 3, about 1 1/2 minutes in, Drexel scored and took the lead. I was fearing that the West was doomed at that point. However, the possibilities became interesting when Western Michigan scored a very nifty goal with 57 seconds left in the game. Unfortunately for Western, they were beaten in OT on a breakaway goal. Good offense; Bad defense was the murmors. Drexel had made the first shock; beating Western. Turns out that Western would lose all three games in the series.

Opening 17:00 of the Dearborn-Rhode Island Game- After hearing my favorite Fight Song, hail to the Victors briefly blare. Dearborn went out and seized control of this game against Rhode Island quickly. They were skating hard; looked fast and me wonder about the upcoming games against EMU, they could be tough.

Looking Ahead: 
Eastern Michigan will be playing a very difficult but important two game series in Happy Valley against Penn State University. I am hoping for some good performances. Eastern cannot slack off, they must show up 100% for Penn State.

Until next time, Go Green.

B+
Reasoning: The offense did enough to beat Towson; although Towson played outstanding defense to make it difficult for EMU to mount any serious Offensive attacks against them. The creativity shown on their goals was admirable and the offense played well enough to win. They aren't as aggressive as usual; but I'm liking this new style of defensive aggression.

A
Reasoning: The big difference between EMU from this year and of a couple of years ago is the amazing ability of their defense. It has really improved and in this game weathered a storm against Towson but played very well. The one goal was just a slight lapse. Nothing major.

A
Reasoning: A power play goal; preventing Towson from scoring on many opportunities with the man advantage? And even a short handed goal? That's deserving of an A.

A
Pruss looked outstanding except for that one squibbler that I couldn't believe got by him in the first period.

A-
Reasoning: It was a very entertaining hockey game. I also saw the EMU fans at the Dearborn arena like I wished. It was a very fun game as stated previously and EMU played well enough to win this game.

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