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Rangers Find Offense

October 25, 2006 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Marquette Rangers News Release


After last weekend's split with the Bismarck Bobcats, the Rangers may have found their offense and are set to battle for third place in the North Division this weekend.

Despite a 14 hour bus ride, the Rangers stayed neck and neck Friday night against the Bismarck Bobcats. Brodie Zuk (Jason Cohen) scored minutes into the first period and Nick Kosinski (Iiro Junnila and Matt Tinordi) scored on the powerplay half-way through the second. Trailing 4-2 entering the third period, Iiro Junnila (Kosinski and Tinordi) tightened the score with a goal on the powerplay. Kosinski (Gallagher) tied the game 12 minutes into the third, but with a little over 3 minutes left the Rangers were unable to stop Kyle Maggard (Bobcats) from an unfortunate puck bounce and late period breakaway to the net, ending the game 5-4.

On Saturday evening, the Rangers hung tough until exploding for four third period goals enroute to a 7-2 win. "Everyone did the little things first and there was so much emotion and excitement on the bench," said Dustin Partacz.

Partacz scored his first Junior goal with five minutes left in the third when he redirected a shot from Jason Cohen that hit him.. "I was shocked and surprised that I redirected it like that. I didn't think I would get my first Junior goal that way," said Partacz.

Brett Larson also had his first goal with the Rangers Saturday. "We learned from Friday's loss and knew we had to get out there and fight. I am really happy to have my first goal with the Rangers under my belt," said Larson.

Goals were scored by Jake Hauswirth (Nic Weight), Mike Macari (Jason Cohen) on the powerplay and Neeco Belanger (Kosinski) in the first period. James Gallagher (Macari and Brodie Zuk) scored on the powerplay, scoring the only goal in the second by either team. Macari (Zuk), Partacz (Cohen and Jake Saville) and Larson (Macari) widened the winning gap in the third.

Not to be overshadowed by their offensive performance, Goalie Stephen Ritter continued his strong play over the weekend. Ritter is currently second in the NAHL in Save Percentage despite playing four more games than the current league leader.

Macari, who registered four points in Saturday's contest said, "I kept my feet moving and made simple plays. We played like a team and moved the puck pretty well. We didn't take stupid penalties and we owe a lot to Ritter. He kept us in the game, making some big saves."

Head Coach Leigh Mendelson liked what he saw, "Scoring 11 goals in two games is a good sign for us. We still need to be better in our own end and with puck decisions." Mendelson noted the powerplay was 5 for 18 and the penalty kill was 15 for 17. "Our specialty teams contributed to our success this weekend. We still have a lot of work to do as we learn and grow together as a team."

The Rangers travel to Traverse City, Fargo and Mahoning Valley over the next three weekends before returning home to face Division-leading Alpena. "This is the toughest part of our schedule," said Mendelson. "If we continue to play the way we did in Bismarck we have every chance of being a very good team as the season progresses."

Game tickets for the November 17 and 18 games versus Alpena are available at the Rangers Lakeview Arena office, any branch of River Valley State Bank, at Johnson's Pro Shop at Lakeview Arena, calling (906) 225-9077 or by visiting www.marquetterangers.com.

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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.

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