Men's D1 Tops Oakland

The Men’s DI team squared off against rivals the Oakland University Grizzlies on Friday, October 9th at Arrington Ice Arena for their third game of the 2015-16 season.

The rivalry was obvious as soon as the puck was dropped. Hits were thrown left and right and the penalties were numerous. The first penalty of the game was handed out to the Grizzlies with 6:31 gone in the first. The Bulldogs capitalized on their first of many powerplays only 27 seconds later when Nick Balavich sent home his first goal of the season. Bobby Bodette and Justin Polischuk would grab the assists on Balavich’s powerplay goal. The Bulldogs had two more powerplay opportunities in the first, but would not capitalize on either. The first frame would end with a 1-0 Bulldog lead.

The second period did not see any goals scored, but a grand total of 18 penalty minutes were given out between the two teams and a small scrum broke out at the end of the second. The Bulldogs would go into the final period of play with a one goal lead that would not last long.

Brad Kobryn wasted no time in the third period of play, burying his third goal in as many games only 59 seconds into the third. Andre Rakas and Justin Fisher would pick up assists on Kobryn’s goal, which was scored while playing 4-on-4. The Bulldogs would once again strike on the powerplay with six minutes gone in the third. Chris Derochie gave the Bulldogs a solid 3-0 lead after sneaking the puck past the Oakland goaltender. Trevor Benaglio and Fisher would tally assists on Derochie’s goal. Oakland would break the Bulldogs shutout streak of nearly 140:00 with only two seconds remaining in the game but the Bulldogs would walk away with the win at the end of sixty minutes.

The Bulldogs outshot the Grizzlies in all three frames played and would end the game with a total of 40 shots on goal. Goaltender Matt Schnoes would turn away 21 out of the 22 shots he faced. The Bulldogs are on the road on October 10th to take on the Grizzlies once again and will be back at Arrington Ice Arena next Friday, October 16th, when they take on the Western Michigan Broncos at 7pm.