Payne Scores Twice, Kalamazoo Rolls Again

Published on October 22, 2011 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings News Release


Kalamazoo, MI- Robbie Payne scored twice, Ken MacLean made 29 saves, and the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings beat North Division leaders, Michigan Warriors by a score of 5-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Borgess Health Rink at Wings West.

The first period started slow as both teams had trouble getting shots through to the goaltenders until ten minutes into the period. Michigan dumped the puck deep and Jr. K-Wings goaltender Kenneth MacLean controlled the puck and sent it to forward Payne who gave an outlet pass to Andrew Graves who buried his 5th goal of the season. The period came to an end with the Jr. K-Wings leading 1-0.

Chris Hughes started off the scoring for the Jr. K-Wings in the second period as he took a pass from Taylor Burden on a two-on-one and buried his 3rd goal of the year.

The rest of the period belonged to Robbie Payne. With three minutes remaining, Payne deflected a shot from Graves to extend the Jr. K-Wings lead to 3-0. The goal was Payne's 9th.

Only two minutes later Payne scored his 10th of the season while the Jr. K-Wings were on the power play. Michigan forward Zak Thompson was called for a checking from behind penalty, the second such call of the game, and the lead for the Jr. K-Wings stretched to four goals.

Kalamazoo wasn't out of magic quite yet, as they started the third period with a bang. Jacob McDowell scored his third of the season at the 1:37 mark when he tapped home a backdoor pass from Chad McDonald.

-MORE- Michigan did all they could to keep themselves in the game, as James Kline (5th) beat MacLean on a beautiful re-direct from the high slot area. The puck changed directions off the shot and snuck past the glove-side.

The Warriors would strike again before the game went final, as Chris Eckler let an innocent wrister go from the right circle, which happened to beat MacLean. The goal was Eckler's fourth of the season.

The Jr. K-Wings are 2-0 against the Warriors on the season, outscoring them by a total of 12-4.

The Jr. K-Wings will return to the Borgess Health Rink at Wings West again on Saturday, November 5th at 2 p.m. against the Port Huron Fighting Falcons.



North American Hockey League Stories from October 22, 2011


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