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Warriors seize opener, 3-1

April 1, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


TRAVERSE CITY - For the better part of Friday's playoff opener at Centre ICE Arena, the Traverse City North Stars and visiting Michigan Warriors battled to a virtual draw. The Warriors, however, owned the final - and pivotal - 10 minutes, finishing with a pair of down- the-stretch goals in a 3-1 triumph in Game 1 of the NAHL North Division semifinals.

The North Stars led the contest for a brief stint during the second period - 26 seconds, to be exact - when Alec Shields (Pittsburgh, PA/TC North Stars/Mercyhurst College) zigzagged through traffic and wristed home the seal-breaker 10:20 into the stanza. The short-lived advantage faded on Andrew Kolb's rejoinder in the subsequent sequence, and the teams went into the locker room in a 1-1 deadlock, despite the host Stars' 21-8 bulge in shots on goal.

Michigan wrested control of the contest at 9:59 of the final frame on a Tyler Perpich putback, and sealed it with 1:53 on a David Johnson marker.

"It seemed pretty clear that they (Michigan) simply wanted it a little more in the third period," observed North Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "They sacrificed, they beat us to the puck, and outworked us in general. We worked hard all year to play this game here in our building, and just like that, home ice (advantage) is ... gone."

Robert Wiener (Williamston, MI/Lansing Capitals U18) and Justin Scott (Detroit, MI/Fargo USHL) assisted on Shields' second career postseason goal. Steve Bolton (Las Vegas, NV/Amarillo NAHL) stopped 18 shots in net for Traverse City. The Stars went 0-for-7 on the power play, but fended off a quartet of such opportunities for Michigan; neither team could convert on protracted 5-on-3 chances early in the affair.

"When you're in a five-game series and go down a game, it's all on the next night," Palumbo added. "If there wasn't a sense of urgency in the third period tonight, we had better have it on Saturday. Going down 2-0 and heading down to their building isn't a very attractive option."

The Stars and Warriors will face off again at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Centre ICE, with the series shifting to Flint for the next two contests. If a fifth and decisive contest is required, it'll be back in Traverse City on Monday, April 11.



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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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