March 7, 2015
Regional Championship Morning Fireworks Start Weekend With a Bang
The MCRHL Regional Championships are already off to a great start with teams ready to play from the word go. Miami (OH) kicked things off with Kevin Putnam nearly netting a double-hat trick with five goals and an assist on their way to a 9-2 victory. After Ohio State netted the first goal of the weekend halfway through the first period, Miami (OH) responded with the next four goals before Ohio State could answer with their second.
Michigan won an absolute battle in the second Division I game against Eastern Michigan. The game was a back-and-forth battle for most of the game, seeing the score a close 7-6 after two periods. After starting the third period on the powerplay, Michigan saw Eric Johnson get his first goal of the weekend 28 seconds after Eastern returned to full strength to increase the lead to two. Eastern was unable to answer as Max Shwein added his third goal of the game to put the Wolverines up by three until 44 seconds remained in the game as Mike Laritz scored to close the gap to two, but Danny Worth would ice the victory, scoring 23 seconds later to complete the victory.
In Division II play, Western Michigan got off to a very quick start and never looked back. The game saw four goals from Evan Zack as well as pairs from both Joe Coschino and Brian Brinker on their way to a 9-0 victory.
Akron netted their first win of the weekend after Joey Nahay and Joe Haynes each scored two goals on their way to an 8-5 win over Purdue. Purdue, however, was not willing to just give up the win freely as Chase Heising scored a hat trick to overcome the Boilermakers' penalty woes in the first period that saw them with four separate penalty kills.
In our first elimination game of the day, neither Ohio State, nor Eastern Michigan were going to make it easy for their opposition. Both teams battled to a scoreless first, but the score would not remain that way as both teams put points up on the board in the second half of the second period as it ended 3-1 in Ohio State's favor. Jake Harrington would put up two more goals en route to a hat trick in the third to put the Buckeyes ahead the rest of the way to win the game 5-2.
There are great games still to come. Check out our schedule below for all the latest scores and updates: