LAKE ORION CLAIMS D1 REGIONAL TITLE
Dragons shut out Rochester United
BLOOMFIELD HILLS >> The Lake Orion Dragons turned in a defensive masterpiece to defeat Rochester United 4-0 and win the school’s third regional title.
“Just talking to our athletic director, he didn’t really know how many we had either. I was like 2008, 2011, and now 2021. It’s really special, just with everything going on too. The fact that our boys can come out and be really resilient and tenacious, having to play a wait game to come out here and win a regional final for our community means everything,” captain Kade Manzo said. “All the seniors on this team, we’ve been through the worst downs you can possibly imagine, and being able to hoist that mitten — not a lot of teams get to do that. Being one of them is very special, and we’re very grateful.”
Lake Orion dominated the game from start to finish with defense. All night long, whenever Rochester United tried to do anything with the puck — passing or shooting — the Dragons seemed to have a body or a stick in the way. United managed just 11 shots on goal for the game and never got their offense going.
“We’ve been preaching the last week or two about blocking shots and getting big and getting in shooting lanes, and I think we did that perfect today,” Dragons head coach Adam Krefski said. “We’ve been preaching keeping our sticks on the ice, keeping our sticks in the passing lanes, and getting
big when they (opponents) do shoot. I couldn’t be more proud of them today.”
For a while, it looked like Lake Orion may not get their offense out of first gear either. Rochester United held the Dragons to just six shots on goal in the first period, which ended with neither team creating much of any scoring chances.
But the Dragons found an offensive spark in the second period, and it was captain Kade Manzo that got Lake Orion on the board, banging in a rebound in transition with 7:42 to play in the period.
Senior Andrew Potyk found the top corner with a wrist shot in transition just over a minute later to double Lake Orion’s lead
to 2-0.
Rochester United had a pair of power plays late in the second period, and United nearly got on the board with 2:55 remaining in the middle frame — ringing a shot off the inside of the goalpost that immediately kicked back out toward the crease. But that was as close as they could come to scoring.
United goaltender Kyle Keipper turned in a solid performance, stopping 27 shots and helped United stick close much of the night, but ultimately the lack of offense doomed Rochester United.
“It was a tough game. I thought our boys battled hard. These games are tough when you can’t get any offense going and don’t have any luck,” Rochester United co-head coach Austin Grzenia said. “I just want to say congratulations to Lake Orion, and they battled hard.”
With the win Lake Orion improves to 11-5. The OAA Red champions advance to the Division 1 quarterfinals on Wednesday at Suburban Macomb, where they will face the winner of Saturday’s game between Brighton and Howell.
“It feels great. It was definitely hitting me and getting the emotions to me that I’m a senior. My first two years, I joined the team as a sophomore, and we got knocked out twice at Brother Rice. And it was definitely a good chance to take a stand and win regionals,” Potyk said.
Rochester United finishes the year 11-8.
“I thought it was a great year. Obviously, with COVID, it’s a roller coaster. We started off the year struggling a little bit. We got the chance to go to Houghton, which was a really good team bonding trip. Losing a couple of games up there I thought it really brought our team together. We went on seven straight. I think that was the best part of our year, going on a seven-game win streak, and I think that’s what kind of took us here to the regional final,” Grzenia said. “We’re losing about ten seniors, so that’s always tough, but I’m really excited for my underclassmen and juniors to step up next year.”