Stars stop Cleveland cold

Published on November 5, 2005 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - With the game on the line, North Stars netminder Jeremy Kaleniecki was more than up to the challenge on Friday at Centre ICE arena.

With less than five seconds on the clock, officials whistled Traverse City's Steven Oleksy for intentionally knocking his own net from its moorings and Cleveland's high-scoring Josh Leonard lined up for a penalty shot. Leonard, who came into the contest with 11 lamp-lighters, skated in on Kaleniecki with nearly 800 Stars fans holding their breath. Leonard tried to go to his backhand, but Kaleniecki was waiting, and his 34th save of the night turned out to be the all-important effort, safeguarding the 3-2 victory.

The North Stars celebrated their homecoming - after an eight-game, 3,000-mile road swing - and reached the .500 mark with the win at 7-7-2.

"We really needed that one," said a relieved Traverse City head coach/GM Scott Gardiner. "It was great to get back home and to taste victory again. Kaleniecki was huge for us, especially there at the end."

Lost amidst the last-second heroics was the stellar performance of TC forward Jonathan Juliano, who was named the game's first star by local media after he gave the hosts a 2-0 edge in the second period with a pair of tallies, including a precision-guided missile at 2:09 of the middle stanza on a breakaway. New acquisition Josh Sorenson - who came to the Stars in a late-week trade with Texas - started the play with a centering pass that Juliano gathered near the Barons' blue line before he went upstairs on Cleveland netkeep Kenny Reiter.

NAHL leading scorer Carter Camper lived up to the pre-game hype with a pair of consecutive goals to pull the team even heading into the third session, but Adam Sponseller banged home what turned out to be the margin-maker with just under 15 minutes to play and Kaleniecki made it stand up.

Defenseman Richie Zobak and Sorenson assisted on Juliano's first marker, while Oleksy and forward Zeke Costello drew helpers on Juliano's second. Forwards Jared Mullen and Patrick Nagorsen set up Sponseller for the game-winner.

Cleveland (8-10-4) outshot the homers by a 36-26 spread, while the teams combined to go 0-for-10 on power play opportunities.

The teams square off again on Saturday in the series finale at Centre ICE. Face-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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 November 5, 2005


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