Birmingham Unified tops Stoney Creek, 7-6
Birmingham Unified tops Stoney Creek, 7-6
BIRMINGHAM » The Birmingham Unified Kings won a wild 9-6 game over the Stoney Creek Cougars in Oakland Activities Association Red hockey play Monday night.
J. P. Cloutier banged home a back side rebound for a power play goal with 5:10 remaining in the third period, which finally put the Kings ahead for good, 7-6.
The Kings used the momentum to add two quick insurance goals – one each from Kelton Carr and from Carson Wood to provide a bit of breathing room – the first the Kings had all game.
“A win’s a win. It was a roller coaster game. I wasn’t happy with us, obviously in the first half of the game. I was happy with the third period. I really liked the adversity we faced. We went up one goal. They came back and tied it right away, and we found a way to go ahead and then pull away for good there,” Kings head coach Zachary Warson said.
Birmingham Unified jumped out early, opening the scoring just 2:23 into the game on a goal from Wood. That goal touched off a first period frenzy where the two teams combined for six goals in just over seven minutes, ending with a 3-3 tie after the opening period.
“It’s always fun when you’re scoring, and then when you’re not playing as structured as you should be, it’s going to come back and bite you. And it did tonight,” Cougars head coach Steve Emery said. “They out competed us. We got what we deserved. The boys
understand that. They know it. We’re ready to move forward into next weekend. We’re just going to put our best foot forward and move on.”
The Kings took control of the game – on the ice – in the second period, bottling up Stoney Creek in their own end and firing 21 shots on frame. But the opportunistic Cougars scored twice – a power play goal from Eric Boothe and and even strength marker from Bobby Dessy – to take the lead 5-3. Birmingham Unified would cut that lead to 5-4 near the end of the period then explode for five goals in the third period as the Kings once again dominated play third period.
Birmingham Unified piled up 54 shots on goal. The Kings had big nights from several players led by a five point effort from Wood (two goals, three assists), a hat trick from Lukas Nies, and four points for Carr (one goal, three assists). Jack Jurkovich, Jake Chernow, and Cloutier also contributed three points each.
“It was good, a lot of people contributed tonight,” Warson said.
The Cougars were led by their top line of Andrew Garlick, Sutton Murray, and Bobby Dessy. Murray register four assists while Dessy and Garlick each scored twice for Stoney Creek.
“They have been a spark plug for us on offense. They kind of got away from their game a little bit, but overall, they had a good night offensively,” Emery said.
With the win, Birmingham Unified improves to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the OAA Red. The Kings have two more league games this week starting with a game on Wednesday versus Clarkston.
“It’s not how you draw it up, but we found a way to win, and a win’s a win. We needed two points in the league, and we got it,” Warson said. “We’ve got three OAA games this week. Obviously, losing to Rochester put us behind the eight ball, so we’ve got to do well this week and hopefully pick up six points.”
The Cougars are now 2-2 overall and 1-2 the league after playing four games in four days. Stoney Creek has a few days off before facing a tough Canton team on Friday.
“We definitely have some to shore up some stuff before Canton on Friday. All these games are so tight together that sometimes they’re not practicing as much as we’re used to. It’s a positive because you’re right back at it, but it’s also a negative because you’re taking away practice ice,” Emery said.