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Sean Finucane

Club Hockey: Blue Streaks head to OT twice, split with Concordia + Syracuse Preview

| By: Jack O'Rourke, Staff Writer
JCU Club Hockey will look to bring home a couple wins from a road series at Syracuse this weekend.
Adversity and resilience have been the story of the John Carroll hockey team through six games this season. Following a dominant opening weekend facing Western Michigan, the Blue Streaks found themselves injured and forced to give their young guns some chances. Anthony LaGreca, Bia Savarino, Loukas Wu, and Charlie Mitchell all played some of the biggest minutes of their young careers versus #13 Grand Valley State, where the Blue Streaks were swept despite playing strong hockey and being tied after the second period in both games.

This weekend, the Blue Streaks welcomed Concordia Ann Arbor for a two game home set that has been marked on the Blue Streaks' calendars since last season. John Carroll traveled to face the Cardinals last season and lost a heartbreaker in overtime after a game winning goal by Tristan Weigand was disallowed. This season, Concordia came to Cleveland to face the Blue Streaks, and here is how the two exciting games went.

FRIDAY
Freshman goalie Brodie Lerch took the net for the Blue Streaks in front of a strong Friday night crowd in which the Blue Streaks also returned forward Max Richter from the injured list. Richter wasted no time in his return to action, as he scored in his first shift of the game.

"We were fresh off a change," said Richter. "Grecs (Anthony LaGreca) hit me with a pass from the corner and I made a move around two guys and shot it between the goalie's pad and blocker."

Ever the humble man, Richter dazzled between two defenders en route to finishing on his early chance. Despite the strong play of Lerch in net, the Cardinals scored three unanswered goals across the next two periods and led 3-1 entering the third period at Gilmour.    
 
As they've done all year, the Blue Streaks saved their best period for last. Junior Sean Deakin was given a beautiful pass by senior linemate Tyler Putnam, which Deakin made good on. It is tough to call this a "breakout" campaign for Deakin, but "Deaks" has brought his game to a new level through six games. Once a CHMA Rookie of the Year and "little brother" of many of the seniors, Deakin has blossomed into the "man" that everyone thought he would become. Putnam also has made major strides in his playmaking and defensive abilities to accompany his thrilling offensive attack, once a player that was more of a one trick pony, Putnam is now a force to be reckoned with in every aspect of the sport.

Shortly after Deakin cut the deficit in half, offensive aficionado Charlie Tuggey found himself on a breakaway via a pass from defenseman Ryan Young. Tuggey buried the breakaway like clockwork and sent Gilmour Academy into a frenzy. Always one for emotion in big moments, Tuggey did not hide his excitement at tying the game. In addition to Tuggey's excitement on the ice is his humbleness off of the surface.

"(Ryan) Young gave me an amazing pass," said Tuggey. "I was lucky enough to finish and help the team win." 

The Blue Streaks defensive core did a stellar job in the third period, which was highlighted by the play of Payton Fogarty and Aidan Conway. Fogarty flashed his speed and was quick to puck battles while Conway's physical style of hockey battered his opponents by the end. 

The teams played a scoreless overtime period which was perhaps the best hockey of the young career of Anthony LaGreca. LaGreca's strong offensive night with two assists was complemented by his limitless legs in the extra period.

In the shootout Tuggey removed any doubt that he was a star in the ACHA. Tuggey approached the goaltender at a snail's pace before biding his time and scoring the lone goal of the shootout. Perhaps the breakout star of September, Brodie Lerch kept the Cardinals off the board for 32 consecutive minutes plus three rounds of the shootout. 

SATURDAY
On Saturday night Concordia responded to their Friday loss by scoring two early goals to take the lead on the Blue Streaks. After trailing by two goals and coming back to win the previous night, the Blue Streaks knew their blueprint to get back in it and executed. Sean Deakin stole a puck on the boards on a pivotal penalty kill and coasted the puck and finished on a shorthanded chance to pull the Streaks within one for the second consecutive night.

"I saw the puck spring free on the boards and bounced it to myself," said Deakin. "As I was coming into the zone I saw room above the goalie's glove. After it went in I was really happy because the goal slowed down their momentum and let us settle into the game." 

Soon after Deakin's goal, captain Clay Gazdak bum rushed into the offensive zone and caught a pass in the high slot which instead of stepping into the shot, Gazdak maneuvered a step lower before beating the goalie high.

"I just had hopped on the ice," said Gazdak. "I saw Richter and Putnam going on a rush and Max threw a puck up high and I just let it rip."

To his credit, after allowing two early goals Jack Zuchlewski returned to his normal Blue Streaks' fans are used to and kept his team in it the whole way.
Gazdak continued his strong offensive play by lasering a pass to the slot which sophomore Henry Cseh got a good piece of to beat the goaltender and give the Blue Streaks their first regulation lead since Richter's goal the night before. The Streaks held the lead for the majority of the period before the Cardinals tied things with mere seconds remaining in the penultimate period. The Blue Streaks were sparkplugged by a sneaky shot on the rush from Payton Fogarty that beat the goalie on his blocker side to take the lead 4-3. The Cardinals would once again respond and tie the game before the third period concluded, giving fans free hockey for both games on the weekend. In the Saturday contest the result would flip on a snipe from the low slot, evening the teams on the weekend.

The Blue Streaks, despite battling early season injuries, have started well out of the gate to a record of 3-2-1. The Streaks' opponent, Syracuse, sits at 1-0-1 on the season following a weekend split with Robert Morris. The Orange were able to take down the team that knocked the Blue Streaks out last season, which should make this weekend's roadtrip a challenge. Offensively, Sam Hutchinson's six point weekend (3 G, 3 A) has led the way for the Orange, while Jack Alecia (1 G, 4 A) also had a strong weekend. Hutchinson also led Syracuse in points last season. The Cuse weekend against RMU was a shootout for the offenses. The Orange split their goaltending on the weekend and the unit provided a .870 SV% and 4.98 GAA. 

For the Blue Streaks, Sean Deakin (9 G, 2 A 1.83 PPG) has led the way offensively. Deakin has already attained half of his point total from last season in three weeks of action. Charlie Tuggey and Tyler Putnam both have seven points, while Clay Gazdak and Adam Unruh are also at a point per game. After five combined starts, freshman Brodie Lerch and sophomore Jack Zuchlewski both possess a SV% of .900.

This weekend's games against Syracuse will be broadcasted live on jcusports.com/live. The games will be played at 8:00 PM Saturday and 1:00 PM Sunday from Tennity Ice Pavilion.
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