Stars Shine In 7-4 Win

December 28, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - Christmas may be over, but three wise men were in full effect for the Traverse City North Stars on Monday afternoon at Centre ICE arena.

The forward line of Doug Clifford, Dan Radke, and Garrett Thompson accounted for the North Stars first four goals, leading the way to a 7-4 victory over Marquette in the first of a two-game weekday matinee series. The win vaulted Traverse City (17-11-2) into a first-place tie with the 18-11-0 Rangers, though the latter has played one fewer game than the North Stars.

"It was important for us to come out and play with that kind of energy, that kind of effort," said TC head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "We had the one line score all those early goals, but we got contributions across the board from a lot of guys, and that's always a positive."

Clifford (Woodhaven, MI/Mahoning Valley NAHL) bagged the game's first two goals, just more than four minutes apart - at 6:38 and 10:50 - as the hosts took a 2-0 advantage into the first intermission. The second period started as a rapid-fire scorefest, with Marquette potting two quick markers in the first 2:33 of the frame. Traverse City responded with four consecutive goals to close out the stanza, with two for Thompson (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars), the second of the season for Eric Rivard (Traverse City, MI/ TC West HS), and Matt Zaremba (Gaylord, MI/Cleveland CSHL) lighting the lamp in his first game in a North Stars sweater.

Marquette scored twice in the latter half of the final period, but Nick Shkreli (Romeo, MI/Mahoning Valley NAHL) roofed an insurance tally with 3:32 to play to make it a three-goal final margin.

"We moved the puck well, got to a lot of pucks deep in their end, and our forecheck was pretty solid as well," Palumbo explained. "We found ourselves in more of a defensive posture later in the game, and that's when they made a run at it before Nick was able to put it away."

Radke (Orinda, CA/TC North Stars/Lake Superior St.) recorded his second 'playmaker' (three assists) of the season, dishing on three of the Stars' first four goals, while Clifford and Thompson also logged an assist each. Five other Stars notched one apiece: Bo Jacobs (Twin Lake, MI/TC North Stars), Eric McLintock (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars), Andy Huff (Howell, MI/Honeybaked AAA), Ryan Amin (Canton, MI/Kenai River NAHL), and Kelin Ainsworth (Thunder Bay, ONT/ Ft. William SIJHL/Lake Superior St.).

Traverse City outshot their U.P. counterparts by a 36-29 spread - including 15-8 in the first period - with Chris Paliafito (Shelbyville, KY/Owatonna NAHL) stopping 25 shots along the way to his second victory since returning to the North Stars.

The teams will face off again in a Tuesday afternoon series finale at 3 p.m. at Centre ICE arena, after which the North Stars will gear up for their annual New Year's Eve trek to Alpena to square off against the IceDiggers.



North American Hockey League Stories from December 28, 2009


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