Current articles and info regarding the 2012-2013 Team:

                Senior Corey Haas playing in his last home game as a Unified Icer made the best of it as he tallied his second goal of the third period to lift the South Lyon Unified team to a 4-3 win over the visiting Hartland Eagles.   It was the 10 straight win for the Unified team and their 12th in 13 games. 

It was the 4^th straight game that South Lyon needed to come from behind in the third period to ultimately win.

                South Lyon got on the scoreboard first when Senior Alex Hudgens fired home a rebound from a rocket slap shot from the stick of Senior Cam Thomas at 13:56 of the first.   The play was also assisted by Haas.  Hartland ended the scoring for the period when Junior Austin Flores scored on a breakdown of the South Lyon defense that left him all alone with Lyon goaltender Junior Aaron Callan.  That play was assisted by Senior Ned O’Boyle at 3:30 of the first.   Callan made four saves for South Lyon, while Hartland’s Brent Pietila made eight.

                The second period saw South Lyon dominate the first half of the period, when an apparent goal by the South Lyon Power Play unit was waived off due to being knocked in with a High Stick.   After that the period saw Hartland gain momentum which lead to a goal with 1:12 left in the period.   Junior Josh Ruthig scored on a pass from Sophomore Logan Quinn and Senior Brett Bandyk.   Both goaltenders faced eight shots.  The teams went to the locker room with Hartland leading 2 to 1.

                South Lyon came out of the locker room with renewed energy as Corey Haas scored his first of the game at 15:30 of the period.  He was assisted by Junior Corey Robertson and Hudgens.   Then in a fury of a little over two minutes the teams exchanged goals with Haas getting the game winner at 7:12 of the third.   At 9:26 of the third South Lyon scored on a power play as Junior CJ Myers banged home a rebound from Senior Cam Thomas and Junior Blake Robinson, to take its first lead of the game.   Hartland not to be out done scored a little over a minute later on its power play.   The goal came off the stick of Senior Nick Pleshakov, on a pass from O’Boyle.   Again just over a minute later is when Haas tallied his second goal, assisted by Corey Robertson and Senior Matt Wisniewski.   Lyon netminder Aaron Callon turned away six shots during the period, while Pietila made seven saves.

                Come see South Lyon as they look to continue their winning ways when they will face off against Northville on Monday the 25^th in the first game of the Michigan High School Athletic Association State Playoffs at Cantons Artic Edge at 6:30.  Should South Lyon be victorious they will play Detroit Catholic Central on Wednesday the 27^th @ 7:00 at the Artic Edge.

Junior defenseman Blake Robertson’s scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period to break a 3-3 tie, and the South Lyon Unified hockey team rallied from a series of one goal deficits to beat the Pinckney Pirates in the KLAA cross over game Saturday evening.

                Robertson’s game winning tally was the only lead South Lyon enjoyed during the contest.  The Pirates had three one goal leads but could not put the Unified team away.

                South Lyon earned their 9^th straight win with the victory as both Blake Robertson and senior forward Mitch Paquette each had a goal and an assist, while South Lyon goalie junior Aaron Callan picked up the victory in between the pipes turning away 14 of 17 shots.

                Junior forward Tyler Manasco and Corey Robertson also scored for South Lyon, senior defenseman Cam Thomas picked up an assist on the goal by Corey Robertson.

                The Pirates goal scorers were Mark Janiga, Pat Rogowski and Brandon Okurowski, with Cooper Jenkins, Nolan Lefebvre and Mike Salata picking up assists.

                Trailing 3-2 entering the third period, the Unified team peppered Pinckney goalie Brandon Dolan with 13 shots with the equalizer coming at the 12:57 mark from the stick of Paquette who picked up a loose puck in between the circles and patiently swept a shot to the top of the cage over the sprawling net minder for the unassisted tally.

                The game winner also an unassisted goal, came as the Unified fore-check created a loose puck that defenseman Robertson picked up at the top of the right circle and skated past a defenseman wide to his left, his shot deflected in off a skate and across the goal line for the lead and eventual game winner.

South Lyon junior Tyler Manasco redirected a blast from the left point by junior defenseman Blake Robertson in overtime to defeat the Stoney Creek Cougars 3-2 in the their final game of the Michigan Public High School Showcase.

                The Michigan Public High School Showcase is the largest athletic high school showcase and the largest public high school showcase in the history of high school athletics in the State of Michigan.  63 high school teams competed in 62 games with all games played in Chelsea, Michigan.

                South Lyon forced overtime early in the third period, with the unified team applying pressure senior defenseman Nick Burton low hard shot from the left point was perfectly deflected five hole past Cougar goalie Maxx Grant by South Lyon senior forward Mitch Paquette, the game tying tally occurred at the 13:55 mark. 

                Each team applied offensive pressure for the remaining time of the period, with the Cougars penalty killing team successfully killing off two South Lyon power play advantages.  Each team had excellent changes to win the game but solid net minding by South Lyons Aaron Callan and Stoney Creeks Maxx Grant forced the extra stanza.

                South Lyon opened the scoring early in the first period, as junior forward Corey Robertson and senior forward Alex Hudgens assisting on Nick Burton’s hard low slap shot from the blue line.  Stoney Creeks answered back a quick: 67 later as forward Nick Kuntzman lit the lamp with forward Nate Hilton picking up the assist.

                The Cougars tallied the go ahead and only goal in the second period as defenseman Nolan Arbour shot crossed the goal line with forward Josh Niederhauser picking up the helper.  The score remained 2-1 heading into the third period.

                With the win, South Lyon has now strung eight victories in succession and has won nine of their last ten games.

                Sophomore goalie Justin Zabinski turn aside 15 of 16 shots and senior forward Mitch Paquette chipped in with 2 assist to lead South Lyon Unified to a 3-1 victory over the East Grand Rapids Pioneers. 

                Playing in the Michigan Public High School Showcase in Chelsea, the victory extended the South Lyon winning streak to seven games and their 8^th win out of 9 in 2013.  South Lyon playing with five players out of the lineup tallied three third period goals to come from behind for the win.

                Trailing 1-0 after the first two periods, South Lyon got on the scoreboard at the 16:09 to tie the game.  With the face off to the right of the Pioneer goalie Steven Longfellow, South Lyons Paquette won a clean draw back to the left point to senior defenseman Grant Braeckevelt who’s one time hard shot whistled past Longfellows out stretch glove.

                With the momentum building for the Unified team and controlling the puck in the Pioneers defense zone, the game winner came with only 4:17 left in the contest with Senior forward Alex Hudgens high snap shot lit the lamp.  Senior forward Corey Haas and senior defenseman Nick Burton picked up helpers on the play.

                East Grand Rapids looking to tie the game in the final 80 seconds pulled their net minder for an extra attacked but the tactic did not work as junior forward Dylan Cordes forced a turnover in the South Lyon defensive zone, Paquette picked up the loose puck and fed junior forward Tyler Manasco in the neutral zone who then slid the puck from the mid ice red line for the empty net goal.

South Lyon Unified’s special teams play, led the varsity hockey team to its sixth consecutive win and seventh in the last eight games beating the Chargers of Churchill High School 4-3.  The contest, a physical, up tempo affair occurred Friday evening at the Kensington Valley Icehouse in Green Oak Township. 

                South Lyon penalty kill came up big midway through the third period.  With South Lyon up by a goal and Churchill on the power play, a right pad save by junior goalie Aaron Callan and the covering of the rebound outside of the crease, caused a mini melee which led to two key South Lyon penalty killers into the penalty box for prolonged five on three power play advantage for the visiting team.

                With the momentum building on the Chargers side, the South Lyon senior trio of defenseman Nick Burton, Grant Widger and forward Mitch Paquette killed off the disadvantage minimizing offensive opportunities by keeping the Chargers to the perimeter of the offensive zone with their shot attempts.

                All the offensive activity was captured in the first two periods; trailing 1-0 on a goal by Chargers forward Senior Riley Brown South Lyon forward senior Alex Hudgens tallied his first of two goals on a rebound, as the initial save by freshman goalie Alex Calvaruso came off a blast from the right point from junior defenseman Blake Robertson off a feed along the boards from junior forward Corey Robertson.

                South Lyon took the lead heading into the first intermission capitalizing on the power play.  A blast from the point again from Robertson stuck the back of the twine past the screen goalie Calvaruso, senior forwards Cory Haas and Hudgens picked up the helper on the goal.  Shots were even 8-8 in the initial stanza.

The Chargers scored a quick goal: 34 seconds into the second period to even the score with senior forward Luke Otto lighting the lamp with assists going to forwards Tom Carey and Matt Sinclair.

Back on the power play South Lyon recaptured the lead with a perfect one timer feed from Haas to Corey Robertson who beat goalie Calvaruso with a snap shot just inside the post; Hudgens also received an assist on the play.

Less than 2 minutes later, the Chargers on an odd man two on one break down the ice found the equalizer as forward Brown notched his second goal of the game with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle, to again even the score.

Undaunted by the perseverance of Churchill, an aggressive fore-check in the offensive zone by South Lyon created a loose puck, with senior defenseman Matt Wisniewski rifling a shot towards the net.  Hudgens picked up the rebound at the goal line and alertly attempted a wraparound shot that slid passed the sprawling Charger net minder for his second goal of the game and the eventual game winner.

The evenly played game saw Churchill outshooting the Unified team from South Lyon 26-22.

South Lyons looks to continue their winning ways as they head to the MPHSH Showcase in Chelsea, the weekend of the 8^th of February for a pair of games verse East Grand Rapids and Rochester Stoney Creek.

                Led by the offensive output from the defense, the Unified team from South Lyon scored 8 goals to beat the Mott Corsairs, 8-1 Friday evening at the Lakeland Ice Arena and extend their unbeaten streak to five games and ending the month of January winning six of seven games.

                Junior defenseman Blake Robertson scored the hat trick, senior defensemen Nick Burton added two goals and Grant Widger chipped in another for a six goal outburst from the blue liners, Robertson added an assist for a four point evening.

                South Lyon opened the scoring at the 13:42 mark with Robertson blasting a shot from the left circle, Senior Cory Haas picked up an assist on the play.  Later in the period, with senior forwards Jake Warren and Grant Braeckevelt controlling the play after creating a loose puck on the fore check, Warren found Burton at the blue line whose wrist shot deflected off the goalies glove to put South Lyon up by two heading into the second stanza.  For senior Warren, the assist was his first point as a member of the varsity team. 

Justin Zabinski, South Lyons Sophomore goalie only faced first four shots in the first period but kept the Corsairs off the score board with a big right pad save on a shot destined for the lower part of the cage. Shots in the period were 14-4, South Lyon.

                South Lyon broke the game wide open on a four goal in a 3 minute 20 second scoring barrage that began at the 12:09 as Haas found a streaking Widger with a pass between the face off circles and scored on a backhand. 

Sophomore Joey Taiariol accepted a pass from senior Sean Carroll and found a wide open Robertson at the right point, his low hard shot was deflected in by Carroll for the second goal of the outburst. 

Goal number three came eight seconds later, with Robertson picking up the puck in the neutral zone and drove a hard shot just inside the blue line of the left post, Carroll picked up an assist on the play.

                Robertson continued his hot hand tallying the hat trick and the final goal of the barrage as Motts goalie made the initial save on his drive to the net but continued to battle eventually sliding the puck past the net minder.

                South Lyon was not done in the period, adding two more tallies for a season high six in a period as senior defenseman Cam Thomas found Braeckevelt in front of the net whose shot deflected off a Motts defenseman’s skate for his first varsity goal.

The last goal of the period, his second of the game came from Burton whose feed from junior forward Corey Robertson who alertly covered the open left point hit the twine, Widger also picked up an assist on the play.

The Corsairs only tally of the game came on the power play, taking advantage of the odd man advantage senior forward Max Vancil carried the puck through the neutral zone and found senior forward Austin Zereno, whose shot beat Zabinski high to the glove side.

The third period came and went without either team adding to their offensive totals, South Lyon outshot Mott for the contest 54-14.  

The eight goal outburst was a season high for the unified squad, as Blake Robertson, Nick Burton, Grant Braeckevelt, Corey Robertson, Cory Haas, Grant Widger and Sean Carroll enjoyed multi point outputs.  Also, contributing offensively were Jake Warren, Cam Thomas and Joey Taiariol.

South Lyon looks to continue its winning ways, this Friday evening at they look to de-energize the Chargers from Churchill high school.

The contest will be played at home, beginning at 8 PM at the Kensington Valley Ice House.

       Junior forward Corey Robertson scored three goals and senior defenseman Cam Thomas added two goals and an assist to lead the South Lyon Unified Hockey team to a 6-3 victory over the sixth rank team in the state, the Plymouth Wildcats at a game played at the Kensington Valley Ice Arena. 

      Plymouth came into the game touting a 13-2-1 record, but could only manage three goals on South Lyon junior goal tender Aaron Callan, who turned away 38 of 41 shots.  South Lyon managed only 14 on Plymouth goaltender Jared Maddock.

       South Lyon battled back from two one goal deficits and then took a two goal lead, scoring a pair of goals in a 15 second span, the first by C. Robertson and the eventual game winner by Thomas.  The four goals in the second period was a season high for offensive output in a period, and helped South Lyon to take a 5-2 lead heading to the third period.

       Plymouth came out motivated to get back in the game and scored a goal at the 13:39 mark, but South Lyons Thomas second goal of the game, put the game out of reach for the Wildcats.  Thomas goal came on an assist from sophomore forward Joey Taiariol and junior defenseman Blake Robertson.

     Senior Alex Hudgens goal and assist, Cory Haas two assist and junior Blake Robertson two assist also enjoyed multi-point efforts for South Lyon, while Seniors Grant Braeckevelt and Mitch Paquette picked up a point on assists.  Plymouth multi-point efforts came forward Nick Schultz goal and assist and forward Mike Schultz two assist.

                Senior forward Sean Carroll and senior defenseman Nick Burton led the South Lyon Unified hockey team to its season best third victory in a row, a 5-1 victory over the Farmington Falcons at a hockey game played Saturday night at the Kensington Valley Ice House.

                Carroll had two goals; Burton chipped in with a goal and an assist, the goal the eventual game winner coming on a power play.  South Lyon executed on 40% of their power play opportunities for the contest.

                The lone goal of the first period came by Carroll, who picked up a pass from senior defenseman Grant Widger on the right boards in the neutral zone, streaked up the ice and placed a perfect shot along the ice to open the scoring.  Senior defenseman Jake Burnia also assisted on the play, his first point as a varsity player.  South Lyon outshot the Falcons 16-9 during the initial stanza.

With the score tied 1-1 in the second period, the Falcons placed themselves shorthanded for an extended period with a rash of penalties, with South Lyon taking full advantage to gain a two goal advantage. 

                The first goal by Burton was a blast along the ice, a minute and eight seconds later, goal number two came from junior forward Corey Robertson on a wrap around.  Senior Matt Wisniewski and defensive partner junior Blake Robertson started the play at the blue line on a nifty give and go.

                South Lyon took a three goal advantage into the third on a toe drag wrist shot that struck the top of the cage by senior forward Cory Haas, the unassisted tally came with only 3:09 left in the period with South Lyon again outshooting the Falcons 13-8.

                South Lyon continued to apply the pressure in the third period outshooting the Falcons 13-5 but could only muster one goal, when Burton picked up a loose puck in the defensive zone and found sophomore forward Joey Taiariol streaking through the neutral zone into the offensive zone, his perfectly centering pass found Carroll at the door step of the crease for the re-direction and the tally.

                South Lyon junior goalie Aaron Callan turned aside 21 of 22 shots for the victory, a victory that placed South Lyon over the 500 mark overall for the first time this season.

        Senior forward Cory Haas had three points on one goal and two assist to lead South Lyon to a 5-2 victory over the Franklin Patriots, in a contest played at the Eddie Edgar ice rink in Livonia, Friday evening.

           After a scoreless chippy first period that saw Franklin outplay South Lyon. South Lyon came out to play and opened the scoring as senior defenseman Grant Widger knocked down a clearing pass at the blue line and passed the puck to the right point where junior defenseman Blake Robertson’s blast found the back of the net.  The Unified team went up by two a mere 75 seconds later as senior forward Mitch Paquette swatted a centering pass from Haas past the Franklin goaltender.

          After Franklin cut the lead to half, South Lyon went to work on the power play with Haas picking up a loose puck behind the Patriot goal and stickhandling to the top of the face-off circle where he drove a shot to the net where it was tipped by junior forward Corey Robertson to once again establish a two goal lead.  Undaunted, the Patriots cut the lead to one before the end of the period, on a power play as forward Josh Judek wrist shot beat South Lyon goalie Aaron Callan.  South Lyon outshot the Patriots 12-9 in the period.

          The score remain the same for the first half of the third period with each team’s special team doing its job killing off minor penalties.  South Lyon once again regained its two goal lead as senior defenseman Matt Wisniewski score on a wrist shot from the top of the circles, assist on the goal went to senior forward Alex Hudgens and C. Robertson.

          South Lyon kept the Patriots off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game and added an insurance tally, with the defensive pairings of B. Robertson and Wisniewski picking up assist on a goal from Haas whom picked up a rebound and patiently skated across the top of the crease and slid the puck into the back of the net.  South Lyon outshot the Patriots for the game 31-27.

           Multiple point efforts for South Lyon were achieved by Cory Haas, Corey Robertson, Blake Robertson and Matt Wisniewski.  Callan stopped 25 of 27 shots for the victory.

Congratulations to the following Gift Card winners from the Unified Home Games:

December 7th against Novi:

Chelsea Hughes - Dairy Queen Gift Card
Lauren Widger - Speedway Gift Card
Ben Hier - Subway Gift Card

December 12 against Brighton:

Kyle Squibb - Speedway Gift Card
Brendan Morrison - Dairy Queen & Jimmy Johns Gift Cards
Dalton O'Donnell - Dairy Queen
Hannah Burczyk - Speedway Gift Card
Zac Stanley - $10.00 Cash
Cam Chance - Candy Mug

November 29, 2012:

Hunter O'Rourke - Jimmy Johns Gift Card

Ashley Goodsmith - Subway Gift Card

Hanna Burczyk - DQ Gift Card

 November 27, 2012:

Zach Stanley -  Speedy Gift Card

Whitney Vera -  Target Gift Card

Hannah Burczyk - DQ Gift Card

FANS INVITED TO SELECT WHICH ‘HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY AT THE

JOE’ GAME WILL BE COVERED BY DRW INTEGRATED MEDIA TEAM

… Voting Begins Today, Runs Through Monday; Ballots can be Cast via Text & Twitter …

Detroit, MI… Beginning today and running through Monday, December 17, amateur sports fans in southeastern Michigan will have the opportunity to vote on which upcoming ‘High School Hockey at the Joe’ showdown they’d most like to see covered by the Detroit Red Wings’ integrated media team.

The winning matchup will have special preview/recap articles appear on DetroitRedWings.com, receive extensive social media coverage and be profiled in an official Comerica Bank Game Day Preview hosted by renowned broadcaster Ken Kal. Video highlights of the contest will also be streamed online via DRW TV while select in-game promotions such as ‘tweet your seat’ will be held during the match itself.

This month’s ‘High School Hockey at the Joe’ matchups can be found below:

Wednesday, December 19

3:30pm Cadillac HS vs. Big Rapids HS

6:00pm Oxford HS vs. Lake Orion HS

8:30pm Detroit Country Day HS vs. Utica Eisenhower HS

Friday, December 21

7:00pm Livonia Stevenson HS vs. South Lyon HS

Fans are able to vote on which squad they’d like to see covered by the Red Wings’ integrated media team by texting the name of the school to 21732 or by tweeting one of the following hashtags to @DRWvote: #cadillac, #big_rapids, #oxford, #lake_orion, #country_day, #utica_eisenhower, #livonia_stevenson, #south_lyon. The school that receives the most combined votes across the two platforms will be announced at noon on Tuesday, December 18.

HOCKEY:South Lyon's defense helps it turn away Novi

By DINO TAIARIOL
Special to The Oakland Press

 Last Updated: 12/8/2012 9:23:55 PM EST

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            The forward line of seniors Cory Haas, Alex Hudgens and junior center Corey Robertson accounted for nine South Lyon points to lead the Unified team to a 5-2 victory over the Walled Lake Northern Knights Saturday evening, a game played at Lakeland Arena.

            South Lyon peppered a season high 44 shots including 20 in the second period towards the Knights senior goalie Grant Luzynski, while the Knight directed 25 at South Lyon net minder junior Aaron Callan.

            South Lyon led 1-0 after one, with their only tally coming from Hudgens who was found all alone in the slot from a pass Haas.  South Lyon outshot WLN 10-7 in the period.

            The second period finished with South Lyon leading 4-1, as they doubled on shots 20-10.  South Lyon goal scores were Haas (2) and C. Robertson, with assists coming senior defenseman Grant Widger, Cam Thomas and Matt Wisniewski, forwards Hudgens and C. Robertson also picked up helpers.  An odd man 2 on 1 rush led to the Knights first and only goal of the period, as junior forward Austin Stansom took a pass from senior forward Joe Rozek and scored.

            The third period saw each team swap goals. The first from South Lyon senior forward Sean Carroll as he took a pass from junior defenseman Blake Robertson in front of the crease and scored.  Late in the period, the Knights tallied their second and last goal of the game when they capitalized on an odd man rush with senior Eric Woolf scoring assist going to Stansom and Rozek.

       Stevenson Spartans beat the South Lyon Unified team 5-3 Thursday evening, a Non- KLAA game played at the Kensington Valley Ice House. The Spartans never lost the lead in the contest and fired 35 shots on South Lyon goalie junior Aaron Callan, Callan stopped all but four as the last goal game on an empty net.

            Both teams controlled the play in the first period, South Lyon the first half and Stevenson the second half but both goaltenders were up to the task and the period ended with a 0-0 tie, with Stevenson outshooting South Lyon by four shots.

            The last two periods saw eight goals being scored with Stevenson leading 3-1 after the second capitalizing with two goals on 2 odd man rushes.  South Lyon scored two power play goals in the third period, the last one with 1:07 left to play with the South Lyon goalie pulled in favor of an extra attacker to close the game to with on one goal.  Junior Blake Robertson tucked the puck across the goal for a goal, during a mad scramble in front of the Stevenson goaltender Connor Humitz.  The Spartans put the game out of reach with an empty net tally with: 27 seconds left to play.

            Goal scorers for South Lyon were senior Alex Hudgens, junior Corey Robertson and Blake Robertson.  South Lyons senior Cam Thomas picked up the lone assist.  For the Spartans, the forward line of Tyler Irvine, Dominic Lutz and Devin Kelly accounted for 11 points led by Lutzes natural hat trick and an assist.  South Lyon was outshot for the game 35 to 21. 

South Lyon and Northville Battle to a Draw

                        Junior Corey Robertson’s power play goal with 6:07 remaining lifted the South Lyon Unified squad to a 2-2 tie verse the Northville Mustangs in a KLAA Central battle that was played at the Kensington Valley Icehouse, Tuesday evening.  With South Lyon applying the pressure for the equalizer, Robertson picked up a loose puck on top of the crease and beat the sprawling Northville goalie Jake Pawlowski with a high wrist shot, senior forwards Cory Haas and Alex Hudgens assisted on the play.

             Northville scored the only goal of the first period, a power play tally with only 33 seconds remaining on the game clock.  Forward Ben Crabil scored the goal with forwards Tyler Gardner and Ryan Bloom credited with the assists.  Northville carried most of the play in the period outshooting the Unified team 11-5.

             The teams exchanged goals in the second period, with South Lyon scoring first on a wrist shot from the left point from junior defenseman Blake Robertson that found its way through a maze of players to beat the screened Pawloski, to tie the game.  The even strength tally came at the 9:56 mark with the assist going to Corey Robertson.  Northville tied the game with a shorthanded goal as forward Ryan Bloom stole the puck from the South Lyon rushing defenseman and went in all alone on South Lyon keeper Justin Zabinski to once again, take a one goal lead. The evenly played second period saw both teams take 8 shots on net.

             Northville had two power play opportunities with less than 3:47 left in the game but could not find the back of the net for the game winner.  Goalie Pawloski made 20 of 22 saves for the Mustangs, while South Lyons Zabinski stopped 24 of the 26 he faced.

             South Lyon will be back on the ice this Thursday @ 6 PM as they take on the Spartans from Livonia Stevenson High School, a game that will be played back at the Kensington Valley Ice House. The Unified team will celebrate Meet the Team Night as fans can come and watch exciting high school hockey and meet their favorite player.

South Lyon Hockey Splits Invitational 

                The South Lyon Unified Hockey Team beat the University of Liggett Knights to gain a split in the Clarkston Thanksgiving Invitational by a score of 6-4 Saturday afternoon, a contest played at the Detroit Skate Club in West Bloomfield. 

                South Lyon opened the scoring at the 11:06 of the first period when a clearing pass was intercepted by junior forward Dylan Cordes, Cordes gloved the pass while skating between the face off circles and quickly drove a shot past the Knights goaltender, Luke Soyka.  South Lyon exploded for two goals in 31 seconds, late in the period.  The first came from a blast from the right point from senior defenseman Cam Thomas, the play started in the Knights offensive zone as the face off was won by junior Corey Robertson and was cleanly drawn back to the point.  The final goal of the period and second in the 31 second span came from junior forward Tyler Manasco, who cashed in on a rebound from a shot from Robertson, a play started by Thomas who found Robertson with a pass breaking as he was streaking through the neutral zone.  South Lyon outshot the Knights 7 to 5 in the period.

                 The Knights came out strong in the second, getting on the scoreboard at the 14:42 mark on the power play as senior Manny Counsman lit the lamp, with the assist going to junior Vince Scarfone and Stephen Campau.  Campau made it a 3-2 with a one-timer to the stick side of South Lyon goalie Sophomore Justin Zabinski, the goal was the first as a varsity player for Campau and came on the power play.   The one goal gap was closed with 4 minutes left in the second,  as Scarfone picked up his second point of the game, an even strength tally that bounced in off a South Lyon defenseman skate, Counsman picked up an assist on the play.  The Knights outshot South Lyon 10-6, and had the entire momentum heading into the third.

                 Picking up the intensity and looking for their first victory of the young season, South Lyon finally broke the deadlock when senior Cory Haas knocked in a rebound from a shot from senior Alex Hudgens at the 12:19 mark.  A mere 60 seconds later Thomas scored his second goal of the game, the eventual game winner with another blast from the point.  The Knights undaunted by the two quick goals, pulled within one when freshman Alexander Minamov beat goaltender Zabinski, with assists going to junior forward Bill Yates and senior forward Cam Marchese. With the momentum back on the Knights side,  forward Counsman was alone in front of the net and ripped a one timer for the equalizer but goaltender Zabinski made the save of the game, a huge pad save to keep South Lyon up by one.  South Lyon put the game out of reach as senior forward Sean Carroll knocked in a loose puck from the crease on a play started by senior defenseman Grant Widger.

                 Besides the win, it was a series of first for South Lyon as Tyler Manasco, Dylan Cordes, Sean Carroll, Grant Widger picked up their first varsity points and goaltender Justin Zabinski picked up his first win between the pipes as a varsity starter stopping 19 of 23 shots. 

South Lyons next game will be a KLAA Central matchup as the Unified team looks to corral the Mustangs of Northville High School as they invade the Kensington Valley Ice House for the first home game of the season.

Clarkston Sweeps South Lyon

            For the second consecutive Friday evening the Clarkston Wolves and the Unified team from South Lyon met, the encounter being played in the Clarkston Thanksgiving Invitational taking place at the Detroit Skate Club in West Bloomfield.  The previous contest won by the Wolves featured, a tight checking, hard hitting affair, with the teams playing to a 2-1 game. 

            After the first period, tonight’s game met the same characteristics of the first with the teams battling to a one to one tie.  The goals mirrored each other with tenacious fore-checking in the offensive zone creating loose pucks for each team to capitalize.  Clarkston’s junior forward Carter Rea open the scoring with assist going to forwards Alex Propson and Drake Gentile.  South Lyons equalizer came from senior forward Alex Hudgens whose shot hit the top of the cage, helpers came from forwards Mitch Paquette and Cory Haas.  Shots were even after one, with both goalies South Lyon junior Aaron Callan and Clarkston junior Jack Viazanko turning away 8 of 9. 

            The second period was a wide open stanza as seven minor penalties were called, four against South Lyon creating an abundance of wide open ice resulting in 5 goals being scored with Clarkston taking a 4 – 3 lead into the third.  For Clarkston goal scorers for the period were forwards, Garrett Polish, Joe Smith and Roman Reiner, with assists going to (2) Joe Smith, (2) A.J. Kowal, Roman Reiner and Adam Johns.  Scoring for South Lyon were Cam Thomas, a slap shot from the point and Paquette whose goal came from a redirection off his leg from a shot from the side boards by junior forward Dylan Cordes.  The goal with only 13 seconds left in the period, closed the gap to one and hoped to lift the South Lyon momentum moving into the final period.  Defensemen from South Lyon Blake Robertson and Matt Wisniewski also picked up assist in the period. Shots were 11-8 in favor of the Unified squad.

             The score remained 4-3 with 9 minutes left in the third when a miscommunication from the South Lyon defense left a wide open forward Jake LaPorte on the doorstep of the crease, who slid the puck past Callan regaining the two score advantage for the Wolves.  Adam Johns who spotted the wide open LaPorte from the near boards picked up an assist on the play, his second of the game.  South Lyon applied pressure, but could not come back from the two goal deficit.  Clarkston was outshot for the game 22 to 29.  Joe Booth led the scoring for Clarkston notching three points while South Lyons Mitch Paquette picked up his first multiple point game of the young season.

HOCKEY: Farmington Unified rallies past South Lyon Unified

By DINO TAIARIOL
Special to The Oakland Press

Last Updated: 11/18/2012 5:21:15 AM EST

Clarkston edges South Lyon Unified in Metro Invite

By DINO TAIARIOL
Special to The Oakland Press

Last Updated: 11/18/2012 5:01:47 AM EST