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Jacobs Leads Stars To 7-4 Win

February 9, 2010 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


ALPENA - Bo Jacobs had just two goals goal through his first 73 games with the Traverse City North Stars. On Tuesday night in Alpena, the rugged defenseman struck for a pair of tallies and assisted on another, leading the Stars to a 7-4 triumph at Northern Lights Arena in a game that was originally scheduled for Nov. 20 but postponed due to illness on both rosters.

Jacobs (Twin Lake, MI/TC North Stars), who scored his first goal of the season back on Jan. 31 against Motor City, potted Traverse City's first marker on Tuesday - a one-timer from the high-slot off a pass from Taylor Burden (Carmel, IN/Indiana Ice U18) 8:12 into the contest - and sealed the affair with 4:51 to play with a pick- and-stick blast from the high slot that made it 6-4. Eric McLintock (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) added a rink-length empty-netter to make it a three-goal final.

"I don't think it was a particularly well-played game by either team," said Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "The passing wasn't real crisp, there were a lot of turnovers and breakdowns. Don't get me wrong - we got two points on the road and we'll certainly take it. We got a great game from Bo, who was solid in both ends of the rink, and showed a lot of heart coming back from a couple of early deficits."

The victory marked the seventh time this season that the North Stars, the second-highest scoring team in the NAHL at 3.83 goals per outing, have amassed seven scores in a single game. Only Topeka (4.29) has expended more scoresheet ink in 2009-10.

"From the standpoint of a fan, it was a pretty exciting game, and it seemed like everything we looked at went in (the net)," Palumbo continued. "From a coaching standpoint, you have to look at it as a plus if you can give up four goals and still find a way to win. It definitely isn't something you want to make a habit of, but knowing that you can still pull out a game like this gives you a little bit of confidence if you have to lean on your offense a little bit some nights."

After Jacobs had knotted the game with his first goal of the night, Alpena answered with a power play rejoinder, and took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. The visiting Stars owned the middle stanza, as Tim Opie (Troy, MI/TC North Stars) redirected a Jacobs blast at 6:15, Garrett Thompson (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) flipped a rebound into a wide-open net at 11:16, and Kelin Ainsworth (Thunder Bay, ONT/Ft. William SIJHL/Lake Superior St.) completed the trifecta with 4:41 to go before the second break.

Alpena (14-27-2) pared its deficit to one goal with the opening score of the final frame, but Ryan Amin (Canton, MI/Kenai River NAHL) responded just 12 seconds later to make it 5-3. Chris Paliafito (Shelbyville, KY/Owatonna NAHL) continued to shine in his full-time role since an injury sidelined Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, ONT/ Thunder Bay SIJHL), stopping 27 of 31 shots and upping his season mark to 6-3-2 - including a 5-1-2 in his last eight decisions. He's 3-0-2 since replacing Strandberg in the first period on Jan. 22.

With the triumph, the North Stars rebuilt a four-point lead on second- place Marquette in the NAHL North Division, improving to 26-12-4 with 16 games remaining in the regular season. Nilan Nagy (Canonsburg, PA/ Pittsburgh Predators U18) dished out a pair of assists on Tuesday, while six Stars dealt out one apiece: Burden, McLintock, Jacobs, Travis White (Sterling Heights, MI/TC North Stars), Kyle Jean (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/TC North Stars/Lake Superior St.), and Doug Clifford (Woodhaven, MI/Mahoning Valley NAHL).

TC will head to fourth-place Motor City (17-17-6) this weekend for a Friday-Saturday series at Yack Arena before returning to Centre ICE on Feb. 20-21 for a weekend set with Janesville.



North American Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2010


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