North Stars fall in overtime, 2-1

Published on October 14, 2005 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


ALPENA - The Traverse City North Stars' home opener on Sept. 23 was spoiled when Alpena came into Centre ICE arena and quieted the home crowd with a come-from-behind victory.

Three weeks later, the Stars were unable to return the favor, suffering a 2-1 overtime setback on Friday to the IceDiggers in the relocated club's inaugural home opener at Northern Lights Arena. Traverse City forward Travis Paeth delivered the game-tying goal in the middle of the third period on an assist from defenseman Anthony Sarno, but Zach Barron gave Alpena the ‘W' at 1:17 of the extra frame, netting the game-clincher after collecting his own rebound. Jeff Miller and Drew Pierson assisted.

"We didn't even wake up until the third period," North Stars head coach Scott Gardiner said. "We've been off two weeks, and it was their home opener, and they had more jump and just flat outplayed us for the first two and a half periods."

Alpena coach Kenny Miller said that the scouting report on Stars goalkeep Jeremy Kaleniecki proved accurate in the final analysis.

"The word on Kaleniecki is that if you put shots on him, he will kick out rebounds," Miller told WATZ radio following the contest. "...But I told the guys after the game that if Zach doesn't work so hard to get his own rebound there at the end, we could still be playing or sitting there in a shootout."

The first period featured a wealth of shots on net - and a veritable conga line to the penalty box. The North Stars outshot the Diggers by a 14-11 margin, but couldn't find the back of the net amidst seven combined infractions totaling 24 minutes of box time. In all, the teams combined for 21 penalties and 56 minutes in the box.

"It wasn't a chippy game, really," Gardiner explained. "It was tightly-called. There were a lot of penalties, but nothing cheap or anything."

Alpena's Justin Stadler broke the scoreless deadlock at 12:21 of the opening stanza on a power play tally, giving the hosts a 1-0 edge on an assist from Matt Suggs. That margin held through the first 20 minutes of action, and throughout the scoreless second period before Paeth (Muskegon, MI/Muskegon Mona Shores H.S.) knotted the affair near the mid-point of the final period.

The host Diggers peppered Kaleniecki (Addisson Twp., MI/Robert Morris College) with 46 attempts - including 22 in the second period alone - while TC also amassed 46 shots on net for the game.

The teams meet again on Saturday in another NAHL North Division showdown at Northern Lights Arena. Face-off is slated for 7 p.m.

"We just have to take the last 10 minutes of the game tonight and roll it into tomorrow," Gardiner added. "We have to come out and play like we're not going to wait around to get it going like we did tonight."

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



North American Hockey League Stories from October 14, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central