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Stars overcome, win in OT
March 18, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release
TRENTON, Mich. - A 3-0 deficit could not derail the Traverse City North Stars on Friday night in suburban Detroit. A slew of injuries and ejections couldn't either.
In the end, a Tim Opie redirection 2:26 into overtime capped a furious comeback fraught with late-game heroics, and vaulted the Stars past Motor City by a 5-4 margin - and into the Robertson Cup playoffs for a third straight season. Travis White served up the equalizer with 23 seconds left in regulation to set up the OT cincher.
"That was about as exciting as it gets," said Traverse City head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "We worked hard to get back into it, pulled out a late goal, and got the extra point in the overtime. Any time you can get one on the road against a good team, it's a plus, but this one was even more important because it gets us into the playoffs."
The Metal Jackets scored a late first-period goal, and opened the second with a pair of tallies in the first 8:02 before the Stars could dent the scoreboard. Michael Szmatula (Commerce Twp., MI/ Lansing Capitals U18) got things going for the visitors with a power play marker at 12:04 of the second, and Jared Van Wormer (Traverse City, MI/TC Central HS) closed the stanza with his 10th of the season six minutes later.
Justin Scott (Detroit, MI/Fargo USHL) evened things up just a minute into the third, but Motown responded a mere 17 seconds later. With time winding down in regulation, Stars goalie Steve Bolton (Las Vegas, NV/Amarillo NAHL) went off for the extra attacker, and it paid late dividends, as White (Sterling Hts., MI/TC North Stars/Ferris State) threaded a blast from just inside the blue line through a sea of humanity and into the net with :23 on the clock.
Opie (Troy, MI/TC North Stars) re-routed a Curtis Heinz (Grand Rapids, MI/TC North Stars) laser halfway through the OT session to conclude the riposte.
The victory did come at a steep cost, however. Kelin Ainsworth (Thunder Bay, ONT/TC North Stars/Lake Superior St.) left the game early in the second period with a head injury, and Mitchell Snider (Traverse City, MI/TC West HS) suffered an apparent broken bone. A second period mêlée also cost the Stars fellow forwards Alec Shields (Pittsbugh, PA/TC North Stars/Mercyhurst College) and Eric Rivard (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars).
"We were down to eight forwards there by the end," Palumbo lamented. "We had to ask some extra minutes and duties of the guys, and we had guys step up and take care of it. We'll have to do the same tomorrow. It was a gritty, gutsy performance and we somehow found a way to win."
Heinz and Sean Murphy (Cary, NC/Austin NAHL) had two assists each, while White, Snider, James Albrecht (Geneva, IL/Chicago NAHL), and Alexander Taulien (Crystal Lake, IL/Lansing Capitals U18) dished out one apiece. Bolton improved to 9-1 in a Stars sweater, snuffing 15 shots on Friday.
Traverse City upped its record to 37-16-1, and kept pace with first- place St. Louis in the NAHL North Division standings. The Stars still trail the Bandits by five points, but increased their lead on third- place Janesville to three points after the Jets dropped a shootout at Coulee Region on Friday.
"Right now, we're second place and we want to fight to keep that position," Palumbo added. "We can't catch (St. Louis) without help, but we control our own destiny in terms of maintaining our spot. We have to stay in that same âone game at a time' mode."
The teams will clash again on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon at the Kennedy Rec Center. The North Stars will return to Centre ICE for the final time in the regular season on March 25 against Port Huron, with the regular season finale the following night at McMorran Arena.
We thank you, our media partners, for your continued interest in Traverse City North Stars hockey. If there is anything we can do to help facilitate any aspect of your coverage, please do not hesitate to contact us. You are a valued component of North Stars hockey.
For more information, call Lance-Michael Correia at (231) 632-5047, the Traverse City North Stars office at (231) 941-9200 or visit the team's Web site at: www.traversecitynorthstars.com.
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North American Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2011
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- Tornado Shutdown Corpus Christi In 5-0 Victory - Corpus Christi IceRays
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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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