Columbus Weekend Wrap-Up

If the first MCRHL weekend is any indicator of how the season will go, we are in for a wild ride with twists and turns during every weekend.  Here are the things that I pulled away from the weekend in Columbus.

Division 1:

The gap between first place and last place may be the smallest the the MCRHL has ever seen.  

Grand Valley finished the Columbus sweep at 4-0 riding second year goaltender and reigning MCHRL Goaltender of the Year, Alex Stutzky.  He finishes the weekend with a 0.75 GAA and a 96% save percentage.  

Despite being enemy territory, the Wolverines excelled, finishing 3-1.  The team rallied after losing first year skater Derrick Rohs to a dislocated shoulder in just his second career game.  Rohs should be just fine as the season progresses. 

The first battle for the state of Ohio went to Miami.  Ohio State had an opportunity to tie up the game late with a two man advantage and 2 minutes left on the clock.  Instead, it was Kevin Putnam of Miami how salted away the game with an empty net goal, his second of the game.

Eastern finished winless but have nothing to be ashamed of.  They had four skaters all weekend and held their own despite being so short handed.  In fact, second year skater, Kyle Astalos has sole possesion of the MCRHL scoring title with 11 point.  That matches his total points from all of last season.

Bye Week: Michigan State

After one here is who leads in points:

 

Rank	Rank	Team	Goals	Assists	Points
1	Kyle Astalos	Eastern Michigan	6	5	11
2	Cam Benson	Grand Valley State	6	4	10
2	Kevin Putnam	Miami OH	6	4	10
2	Danny Worth	Michigan	4	6	10
5	Tied with 4 skaters	-	-	-	9

 

 

Division 2

The new guys in town are holding on to first place after one weekend.  Purdue finished the weekend 3-0 but it was an adventure getting to that point.  They won each of their three games by no more than two goals, including two overtime against DePaul and Western Michigan.

The most tenured team in the MCRHL Division 2 team, Western Michigan, are knocking on the door to being the team to beat despite a record of 1-1-1.  Coach Jaran Malafa is confident that once they have a full team, they will right the ship and be a force.

Lead by club president Joey Nahay, the Zips of Akron finished with two win and their only loss coming at the hands of Purdue.  Similar to what he did last year, Nahay currently leads his team in goal and assists.

The other new team to the MCRHL, DePaul, got pushed around a bit with three straight losses but nearly escaped with a victory over the first place Purdue Boilermakers.  Goalie, Michael Lewis had a game, making 23 saves off 27 shots and gave his team a chance to win as they fell in overtime.

Bye Week: Michigan Tech

After one, here is the leader in points:

Rank	Rank	Team	Goals	Assists	Points
1	Tommy Vogel	Western Michigan	9	7	16
2	Chase Heising	Purdue	9	3	12
3	Joey Nahay	Akron	7	4	11
3	Wyatt McManus	Purdue	2	9	11
5	Jon Welsing	Western Michigan	6	3	9

See you in Homer Glen, IL in a few weeks!