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Stars third period surge ends with 3-2 setback

January 29, 2008 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


ANN ARBOR - For the 15th time this season, the Traverse City North Stars came up just a goal shy, as the Stars found themselves on the short end of a 3-2 count on Tuesday night at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. The U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-17 squad duplicated their one-goal advantage from the weekend finale, a 3-2 shootout triumph at Centre ICE arena on Saturday.

"We played well - very well," said Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "We talk about competing and playing hard, and we did that again tonight. It's a familiar refrain, but if we play this way night in and night out, I'll take the results sight unseen."

The U-17s scored the only goal of the first period before Harrison Niemann (Canton, MI/Omaha USHL) evened things up at 8:21 of the second. Nate Urbaniak (Perrysburg, OH/Toledo Jr B CSHL) and Jameson Raymond (Flint, MI/Bozeman NAHL) assisted on the power play goal, Niemann's 18th marker of the season. Niemann, who now has 10 points in his last four games and is the reigning NAHL North Player of the Week, is just one goal from tying - and two from passing - Patrick Nagorsen as the Stars all-time leading goal-scorer. The U-17s grabbed a 2-1 advantage with 4:40 left in the second period, and added an empty-netter with :40 left in the third.

In a bit of an anomaly, the North Stars came into the game having attempted just one penalty shot in the team's three-season history - Brett Englebright's near-miss back on Dec. 16, 2005. On Tuesday, the Stars were awarded two - Matt Hughes' first period attempt, and Nate Urbaniak's successful try with 13 seconds left in the game.

"Both were clear breakaways, good calls," Palumbo explained. "We had plenty of chances tonight. We didn't bury them, and their goalie made some stops. And even in those final 13 seconds I thought we had chances."

Traverse City outshot the Under-17s by a 13-5 margin in the final 18 minutes, and enjoyed a solid outing from goalie Brandon Stephenson (Saline, MI/Victory Honda AAA), who stopped 26 of 28 shots. The Stars (12-19-10) kick off a home-and-home series with the rival Alpena IceDiggers next weekend. The Diggers visit Centre ICE arena on Friday, before the teams adjourn to Alpena for the Saturday finale.



North American Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2008


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