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| TEAM: | FIRST PERIOD | SECOND PERIOD | THIRD PERIOD | FINAL SCORE: |
| Eastern Michigan | 2(20) | 0(12) | 1(5) | 3(37) |
| West Chester | 1(14) | 2(13) | 1(8) | 4(35) |
West Chester and Eastern Michigan play one of the more ugly college games of hockey that I have ever seen. West Chester ended up coming out victorious by the score of 4-3.
Dearborn, Michigan- The West Chester Golden Rams defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles 4-3 in front of a predominately West Chester crowd at the East-West Classic, Friday Afternoon.
As
a student of Pioneer High School, I have gone to a couple of
Pioneer-Huron hockey games. The game that was portrayed at Dearborn
reminded me of one of those types of games. The only reason the players
went out there was to go hit someone and hit someone hard and hit
someone often. Oh yeah, every once in a while Pioneer would score a
couple goals to be sure that they won the game in the meanwhile to
continue their "dominance" over Huron. The game would usually
be sloppy, but man were their hits to entertain the crowd. This game had
all of those aspects, except the hits weren't even all that great.
The first period of the game between West Chester and the Eagles started
off quickly, and was probably the most exciting part of the entire game.
West Chester started the scoring 2:32 into the game with a Power Play
goal by Dave Schrantz. However, the Eagles did respond in the period
with two goals to garner their only lead of the game. The first goal was
a power play goal by Mike Koveleski that was very similarly executed to
the sixth goal against Oakland in which Eastern would win the faceoff
and Koveleski would just plainly shoot it on net and the goalie would
watch it go by. Ryan Sinks scored at the 17:04 mark to give the Eagles a
2-1 lead going into the intermission. The Eagles were not able to do a
ton, but somehow managed to get 20 shots on net through their efforts.
The
second period of the game started to show the dullness that this game
was to lead. West Chester would not stop hitting the Eagles, and were
rewarded in their physical style of play with 2 goals in the period.
Both of these goals were late in the period. Just to tell you how the
Eagles were performing, I made a comment: "The Eagles are being
badly outplayed and look terrible." Soon afterwards, West Chester
was rewarded with their two goals. Such a sad thing to say.
The third period was the sloppiest period of hockey the Eagles have
played in the four years I have attended their games. The Eagles were
able to only manage a measly 5 shots. However, the Eagles were able to
sneak one past the West Chester goaltender 16:08 into the third period.
From this moment on, I thought the Eagles might have had a chance to
pull out a game that they should of lost and turned it into a win.
However, West Chester spoiled all hopes of that 1:30 later and took the
game. The Eagles did pull their goalie but mounted no real attack on the
West Chester goalie to end the game. It was a depressing game to watch
all around, and it was really depressing for many reasons.
What made this game so depressing was that West Chester looked terrible
on the ice. The Eagles handed West Chester, at least 7,8 2 on 1's and
even a 3 on 1 and West Chester failed to score on ANY OF THEM!! The only
thing West Chester did really well was knock Eastern hard into the
boards, and knock them to the ice consistently all game. West Chester
was practically challenging Eastern to come out and play, a physical,
hard-nosed game. West Chester wasn't very concerned about scoring or
winning the game. They just scored a couple of goals that they needed to
win the game and just checked the Eagles into oblivion. I really hate to
say this about a team, but if West Chester doesn't improve on their
"hockey" they have no right to be at the Nationals or even in
the Top 20 at all, despite winning against the Eagles. They can hit and
knock people down well, I suppose that's a start.
The Eagles were never in position all afternoon, not really able to
mount anything against the Golden Rams. They didn't stand up to them,
and didn't show any presence really on the ice. In particular the third
period when the Eagles were down a goal, they sat back a majority of the
time. I understand that they didn't want to give up a goal against West
Chester to make it two goals considering their own offensive struggles.
However, West Chester was given 2v1's and 3v1's all night and couldn't
capitalize on a single one. It almost seemed to me like it wouldn't of
been a bad risk to attack with a bit more fervor. However, in a bit of
understanding I can understand getting hit and knocked to the ice
constantly would probably not be a pleasurable thing.
I love
trying to put a positive spin on a game, no matter the circumstance.
However, the best I can do for this game is that the Eagles did score
their goals on the Power Play, thus showing that there is a little bit
of offensive firepower on the team when they have an extra player.
That's actually something that you could almost build a team around,
playing smart, intelligent hockey and getting the Power Plays to win
games. Ask the Minnesota Wild about their trap and how it frustrates the
opposition. It can work.
You must understand how difficult it is for me to say these types of
things about the team. I have been covering the Eagles for 4 years and
have to an extent fallen in love
with the organization and the hockey that is played on the ice. After
all, if I didn't enjoy myself going to these games, or didn't feel as if
it was a quality organization to follow, I wouldn't be. The Eagles have
for the past few years been a top level team and quite frankly I think
we all have high expectations for this team. However, the thing is that
this new class of individuals, this new group of 16 players could
develop their own dynasty through their years. Just think, these
individuals could become the individuals who could do what unfortunately
the last class couldn't, and win a National Championship. Watching a
performance like this afternoon's though, is a clear step backwards for
the team in achieving this goal. However, it could also be used a
slingshot for the future as they would NEVER want to experience this
type of game again. Perhaps later this year, we will not believe that
the Eagles lost to a team like West Chester.
The words are not coming from a fan who is angered with the team and the
organization. The words are coming from a fan who cares and wants to see
this team succeed. To my friends
I have raved about the quality of hockey that the Eagles have played, to
my family I have raved. However, this afternoon I was thankful for one
thing. I was thankful that I didn't have a friend
with me to watch this game, to make me look like I didn't know what I
was talking about. And honestly, I was embarrassed on this afternoon to
be a fan of the Eastern Michigan Eagles.
I am 100% positive that the Eagles will never play a game this poorly
again. Please understand that my words are not focused on individuals,
they are focused on the team as a whole. I never thought that I would
write an article onto this order. However, I have this firm belief
that the Eagles will fight hard, fight valiantly, and will play great
hockey and will still shock teams this year. I feel it in my bones,
I know they will. Fans, do not throw in the towel after this effort. You
will only be missing the great things to come.
However, the Eagles need to ask themselves one question. Will
they?
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