Strong third period sends Eaglets past Falcons

By Dan O'Meara • ECCENTRIC STAFF WRITER

FARMINGTON--For two periods Wednesday night, underdog Farmington High was hanging tough and playing an even hockey game against visiting Orchard Lake St. Mary's.

The Eaglets eventually broke a 1-1 tie with three third-periods goals for a 4-1 victory at Farmington Hills Ice Arena.

St. Mary's, the defending Division 1 state co-champions, outshot the Falcons by a wide margin, 36-14, but struggled to put the puck past Farmington senior goalie Evan Diakow.

"We spent most of the time in their end," Eaglets coach Brian Klanow said. "They did what they had to do, and their goalie played well.

"We put a lot rubber on the guy tonight. That's to his credit; he's a good goalie. He could have stolen the game."

St. Mary's (17-5-1) dominated at the offensive end to start the game, and the Eaglets took the initial lead on Jordan Kieltyka's goal with 7:35 left in the first period.

Farmington had a 5-on-3 power play late in the period, and St. Mary's failed to capitalize on a man advantage at the end, too.

Mitch Hall jumped on a St. Mary's mistake early in the second period (14:17) to tie the score.

When a defender left the puck free in front of his own net, Hall alertly raced in to chip the puck into the upper left corner.

In the final 8:48, the Eaglets had two power plays and the Falcons three - the third of which carried over to the first 31 seconds of the third period.

"We had three of our top guys out, and we played one of the best teams in the state to a 1-1 tie for two periods," Farmington coach Mark Vellucci said. "We had some quality scoring chances at the end of the second but couldn't get it by the goalie (Max Oslund). If a bounce goes our way and we go into the room with a 2-1 lead, it's a different game."

The Falcons (9-10-2) were without senior forwards Ian Ellis and Tyler O'Hara and junior defenseman Kraig Andrews. Two were away on family trips; one was sitting out for a team reason.

St. Mary's, the No. 5-ranked team in Division 1, took the lead 1:17 into the third period with Dane Muller's goal. He put the puck on net, and it trickled past Diakow before he could find it.

The Eaglets got an insurance goal with 5:46 remaining off Kieltyka's back-hand shot in front, and Cody Loyer added an empty-netter with 41 seconds left.

Following the second period, Klanow told his players, "'You gotta fight through games like this. We're playing well; we're in one of those games. We gotta find a way to win it.'

"These are good games for us. Good teams find a way to win, and we were able to do that."

Shane Halaas had two assists for St. Mary's; Muller, Jonathan Kello and Cody King had one apiece. Matt Gutknecht helped on the Farmington goal. Despite the many power plays, the teams were even up when all the goals were scored.

"That's the best we've played all year 5-on-5," Vellucci said. "We would've liked to have shot the puck on net more. In the first five minutes, we weathered the storm. They were all over the puck in our zone.

"The guys did a better job of checking their man (after that). It shows how much we've improved. It shows our guys we can play with anyone no matter who they are."

Vellucci added the Falcons "couldn't seem to get a shot through" on the power play, but it was a whole new power-play unit without the absent players.

Vellucci said he was proud of his entire team, but Diakow deserved to be singled out for praise after this game.

"He played outstanding," Vellucci said. "He kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win. It would not have been anywhere near a 1-1 game without him.

"He spoke with his play on the ice, and (the Eaglets) didn't get a lot of second chances. He stepped up big time."

Prep Hockey

No logos, photographs, or graphics on the site may be reproduced without written permission.