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Stars Outduel Kalamazoo, 5-4

January 17, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - For just a little over five minutes on Tuesday evening, the Traverse City North Stars rivaled the blizzard outside of Centre ICE Arena. A concentrated offensive flurry - four goals in the first 6:17 of the third period - punctuated an otherwise gritty 5-4 victory over Kalamazoo.

The Stars struck early with a nifty 2-on-1 conversion from Mitchell Snider (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) to Eric Rivard (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars NAHL), who tapped in a perfect feed on the backhand a mere 30 seconds into the game. It would be the hosts' final goal for more than 40 minutes of game action until the early third period whiteout.

"The win is nice, but I liked that we won some battles - the kinds of battles we haven't been winning lately," said TC head coach Chad Fournier. "We talk a lot as a team about doing the little things that can really make the difference. We know we're talented, and they (Kalamazoo) are too. I think we showed a lot of that heart and determination tonight."

The clubs entered the third frame knotted 1-1, but Jared Van Wormer (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars NAHL) redirected a rising blast from the point off the stick of Nathan Harris (Fowlerville, MI/Lansing Capitals U18) just :55 in. Kyle Schempp (Saginaw, MI/Compuware U18/Ferris State) gave the Stars a 3-1 lead 1:16 later with an unassisted lamplighter.

After the K-Wings halved their deficit at 4:03, Traverse City responded in-kind a scant 25 ticks later, as Michal Toman (Prievidza, Slovakia/TC North Stars NAHL) swiped the puck and picked the upper right quadrant for his second goal in as many games since returning from the World Junior Championships. Sean Murphy (Cary, NC/Tri-City USHL) pushed the Stars' bulge to 5-2 with 13:43 to play, but Traverse City never got the chance to put it in cruise control. Kalamazoo struck with a pair of shorthanded tallies 36 seconds apart to accent a hotly-contested - and oft-contentious - final third.

"We had to work hard for this one," Fournier added. "Every night in this division is a battle. There aren't any gimme games, and this is the kind of effort it takes to be successful against good teams."

Toman, Schampp, and Murphy were also credited with assists, while Lance Fredrickson (Spring Lake, MI/Muskegon USHL) helped set up Murphy's game-winner for his first point in a North Stars sweater. Kyle Laslo (Fenton, MI/Osoyoos KIJHL), who drew a fighting major after a third period fracas with Wings forward Austin Hervey, made 29 saves to notch his 16th victory of the season in the Stars' net.

Traverse City improved to 17-11-5, and pulled to within five points of second-place Kalamazoo (21-13-2) in the NAHL North Division standings, with three games in-hand on the K-Wings. The North Stars will hit the road next weekend for a Friday-Saturday series at mighty Midwest Division-leading Janesville (27-7-3), and a Sunday afternoon rematch at Kalamazoo on the way home. First-place Port Huron visits Centre ICE on Jan. 27.

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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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