CRANBROOK MOVES TO DIVISION 3 FINAL
Cranes top Flint Powers, 4-1
PLYMOUTH >> The Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood Cranes advanced to the Division 3 hockey state final with a 4-1 win over the Flint Powers Chargers on Friday morning.
“They (Powers) work hard. They’re a tough team to play against because they are opportunistic,” Cranes head coach John LaFontaine said. “They compete hard, and they don’t make it easy on you. I don’t care what the shots were. It was a tough game all the way through.”
Cranbrook opened the scoring with 5:26 remaining in the first period when Luke Hellweg deflected a point shot through a crowd in front of the net and the puck snuck over the line for a 1-0 Cranes lead.
Hellweg and his line mates, Lucas Hunter and Ty Esterline, were also charged with shutting down Powers’ top unit and largely did that, holding the Chargers’ best scorers to just one goal on the day.
The Cranes doubled their lead
early in the second period when Jack Wineman banged in a loose puck with 13:10 left on the clock.
Once again, the Cranes did it with defense. The Cranes held the Chargers to just 18 shots on goal, and Cranbrook goaltender Julian Zvyagin turned in
another good performance in net, making 17 saves in the win. Meanwhile, the Cranbrook defense was able to consistently break out of their own end and cut off the Powers forecheck.
“They didn’t really get to hem us in. Our defense made good decisions and did a nice job of neutralizing that (Powers’ forecheck). We got in trouble a little in the first period,” LaFontaine said. “But I thought we got better as the game went.”
After posting three straight shutouts to start the playoffs, Cranbrook finally gave up a goal when Trey Carlock jammed a puck in just under one minute into the third period. But that was all the scoring Powers could muster, and Cranbrook re
established their two-goal lead less than three minutes later on a goal by Leyton Stenman.
The Cranes almost methodically killed off the
third period with their typically strong defensive effort that left the Chargers with few opportunities down the stretch to cut into Cranbrook’s lead. Even after Powers earned a power play with 3:19 remaining, the Chargers couldn’t get much going offensively in the final
period. Finally, Isaac Cheli completed the scoring with an empty net goal — a diving effort to get to a loose puck that had hit the post and settled in the crease with 10 seconds remaining.
With the win, Cranbrook (14-4) advances to the state final on Saturday 3 p.m.
The Cranes will face Calumet (18-0-1).
“It’s been unreal this year, especially with all the COVID craziness going on. It’s just great to be here,” Cheli said. “It’s truly blessed. We have a great team, and the boys are just coming together. It’s been awesome.”