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Gruse Is Franchise's Leading Scorer, Warriors Split In Jamestown

March 26, 2013 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Michigan Warriors News Release


JAMESTOWN,NY - With the Warriors eliminated from playoff contention, all they could do is try to play the spoiler roll this past weekend in Jamestown. With two Ironmen losses to the Warriors and two Kalamazoo wins against Johnstown, the Jr. K-Wings would have taken over second place and a first round play-in bye going into the last week of the season.

Things did not start out auspiciously for the Warriors. On the way over to Jamestown, the suspension air bag on the Warriors bus popped and four hours were spent at a truck stop in Cleveland. This ordeal pushed the start time of Friday's game from 7:00PM to 8:20PM. Ironically, this seemed to help the Warriors. They outshot Jamestown 10-7 in the first and T.J Stuntz cashed in at 18:02 on a scramble in front of the net. Stuntz found the puck in the low slot after Joe Ballmer made a save on Warriors forward Jon Farkas. Stuntz put the puck in on his backhand and the Warriors lead, 1-0 after one period.

The Ironmen woke up in the second. They controled most of the play in the second. The shots in the period were only 10-5 Ironmen, but attack zone time was well in favor of Jamestown. However, it was the Warriors who would score the only goal of the period. The Warriors enjoyed a man advantage at 8:18 and T.J Stuntz scored his second of the game and sixth goal of the season. The Warriors took a 2-0 lead to the locker room.

A tightly contested third period lead to Jamestown having to turn up the pressure in the final five mintues. They broke Trevor Gorsuch's shutout at 18:52 with an extra attacker on the ice. Dylan Zink came in off the right point and fired a shot passed Gorsuch on the glove side. The Warriors would hang on to with their 19th game of the season, 2-1. T.J Stuntz and Jon Farkas both had 2-point nights, and Trevor Gorsuch made 25 saves.

Saturday night would be a much different result for the Michigan Warriors. They had poked the bear on Friday night and the Ironmen wanted to make a statement on Saturday. 13:00 in to the game, Jamestown lead 3-0 and was two for two on the power play. Dillon Kelley was pulled in favor of Trevor Gorsuch, after he made seven saves on ten shots. Gorsuch stopped the bleeding and the Warriors went to the locker room, trailing by three.

The Warriors came out hard in the second. The goaltenders were the story in the 2nd. The two teams exchanged 26 shots on goal in the period, 16 going to the Warriors. Both goaltenders made exceptional saves, but it was Jamestown who would break the ice in the 2nd. Evan Ritt scored on a wrister from the left circle and the Ironmen lead 4-0 after two periods.

The Warriors would pull close in the third. Marty Gruse scored at the :36 mark of the third, making him the Warriors all-time leader in points. He passed A.J White, who is currently a freshman at UMass-Lowell. Then, Jon Farkas scored to cut the Ironmen advantage to 4-2. That's as close as the Warriors would get. Victor Johansson and Huba Sekesi added goals for Jamestown and they won the game, 6-2. Trevor Gorsuch made 29 saves in relief of Dillon Kelley. Joe Ballmer of Jamestown made 31 stops and the Iromen stayed in second place in the North Division.

The Michigan Warriors finish their season on Friday and Saturday night in Port Huron. You can hear those games live on Supertalk 1570AM and supertalk1570.com or on PPV FASTHockey.com.



North American Hockey League Stories from March 26, 2013


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