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Ann Arbor, MI-  The Eastern Michigan Eagles defeated the Saint Louis Billikens by the score of 5-4, Saturday afternoon at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. The Eagles were led by forward Ryan Thompson who notched a hat trick and scored the game winning goal as well with 1:15 left in the game.

The first period was really a defensive showcase for both teams as the Eagles and Saint Louis really played it close. The Eagles scored first just a few seconds before we arrived (yeah we were stuck watching the Michigan-Michigan State football game). However, the period was pretty tightly played and entertaining with the Eagles maintaining a 1-0 lead.  

The second period began with the Eagles pulling out to a 2-0 lead on a wonderful individual effort from Ryan Thompson(his first of three). Thompson stole the puck from one of Saint Louis's players and then managed to outskate him and while still being tripped up at the end from the ice managed to shoot the puck over the Saint Louis goalie. It was a phenomenal play from him. The Eagles third goal came 3 minutes later on a beautiful 2 on 1 breakaway that was again turned by a great defensive play. Dan Mayes powered the puck through the net and Dave Aliff got the assist putting the game at 3-0. However, Saint Louis made it a bit interesting by scoring a very interesting goal at 17:25. It was literally two perfect passes, one from behind the net to the one on the left side in front of the net over to the other player standing wide open. Two pinpoint passes put Saint Louis back in the game at 3-1.

The third period was really where the Eagles seemed almost tired and Saint Louis began to really carry the play. Saint Louis scored their second goal 6 minutes into the third period and the score was all of a sudden 3-2. The Eagles were in desperate need for something to go right and they did get it as Ryan Thompson scored a goal 5 minutes later to make the game 4-2 in favor of the Eagles. What happened after this point was just incredible and turned a rather typical EMU-St. Louis game into something a lot more exciting. Saint Louis then put together TWO goals in 30 seconds at the 9:50 and 9:30 mark to make the score 4-4. Saint Louis used perfect passing to score the 3rd goal again and the fourth goal was scored catching the Eagles completely unready for what was happening and also caught me by surprise too. The period then remained tight with Saint Louis carrying the play looking hard to score the game-winning goal. However, two critical Saint Louis penalties occurred with the second being a very questionable Interference call that gave EMU the power play which led to Ryan Thompson scoring the game winning goal by waiting for the goalie to make his move and just shoot it over his right shoulder sending the Ice Cube into another happy frenzy! The last minute was a mad scramble for Saint Louis attempting to score but were unable to.

The better team in this game was the Eagles for approximately 2 1/2 periods. They were carrying the play, they were playing phenomenal defense, doing a great job getting players off of the puck and playing a solid defensive game. In the third period though, the Eagles offense was anemic, as was their power play as they couldn't produce anything until the game winning goal. In the third period, Saint Louis started to assert itself with their "team-oriented" style of play and put together some beautiful goals on some beautiful passing. In a lot of manners the Eagles were extremely lucky to get this victory with that questionable call that deservingly made the Saint Louis Billikens Fans(a few were here) wonder. I only wish I had a replay to show.

Saint Louis looked to me like a solid "team." They really seemed a lot more focused on making plays as a team instead of focusing on individual effort. Their goaltending was solid enough, they played a very gritty defense and played a good brand of hockey. However, they did lose their cool a bit during the end of the second period in a mini-brawl that really got everyone confused. Saint Louis is a solid team that if they play well and win some key games could give a team some problems at Nationals (just like last year)

The Eagles looked really good for two periods and then fell apart alarmingly. Their style of play reminded me a lot of Ohio University's. They were playing a more defensive style of play and waiting for Saint Louis to make mistakes as they would rarely pass entering the zone and would depend on dumping and chasing which didn't work for periods. The goals the Eagles scored were mostly off of great individual efforts or one nice pass. There wasn't as much of a team focus from the Eagles on this night as it seemed like the players were all trying to do it on their own. They played as a team, but offensively seemed too focused on scoring as a bunch of individuals. I could be wrong, but from my perspective that's what I was seeing from the Eagles.

Ultimately I thought the Eagles looked like a championship contender in the first two periods, and in the third looked like a team that would finish .500. It gives me something interesting to think about when we see the Eagles play again in two weeks against Syracuse. Thankfully though, the Eagles earned 8 huge CSCHL points this weekend and should start to earn some respect in the rankings!

Looking Ahead: 

The Eastern Michigan Eagles are off this upcoming week, and will return to action at home against the University of Syracuse on Friday and Saturday. The game Friday is at 7:45 PM and the game Saturday is another afternoon affair (the one I'll be attending) at 3:30 PM. Come on out and support the Eagles who are on the rise and looking for bigger and better things in the CSCHL and ACHA!

Until next time, I just have to say that thank god Football Season is almost over and Hockey Season is in full swing!

GO GREEN!

-Kevin  

B 
I wasn't really impressed with our system offensively. It was a lot of dumping and chasing and individualized scoring attempts. The Eagles did put up a lot of shots but again that was after perhaps one pass, it was mostly an individualized effort at shooting on the net. The goals were great individual efforts. I would just like to see a bit more passing and some more beautiful goals like I saw against MSU in which we can go around the net and around the offensive zone playing our opponents mistakes and passing just a bit more.

B
Solid for two periods. Really solid for two periods, but the third we looked unprepared for Saint Louis at times and really allowed for Saint Louis to carry play. However, defensively they did a lot of things right.  

C
Anemic the whole game. Thankfully though, they came through at the right time. Saint Louis really stopped the EMU PP cold.

B 
A solid effort from Gresham and he made a couple of really amazing saves, but 4 goals on 23 shots(even though very good and impossible to stop) is a bit too many.

B-
In a lot of ways, the Eagles were lucky to get out of this with a win as Saint Louis really showed a lot of prowess in making this a game and not giving up as they easily could of after losing 5-1 on Friday Night. However, the Eagles to their credit did come through when it really mattered. This was a great way to follow up that great win against Illinois and push the Eagles winning streak to 3!

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