CLARKSTON RALLIES PAST LAKE ORION, STAYS UNBEATEN
BLOOMFIELD HILLS >> The Clarkston Wolves staged a third-period comeback to defeat the Lake Orion Dragons 3-1 in a key Oakland Activities Association Red Division battle.
“It was a good game, a classic ClarkstonLake Orion battle,” Wolves head coach Nathan Bryer said.
“It was a battle, back and forth, and that’s what you’re going to get out of a rivalry game like that,” Lake Orion head coach Adam Krefski said.
Trailing 1-0 entering the third period, the Wolves tied the game with 9:15 remaining when Owen Croston came down the right side in transition and snapped home a shot from low in the circle.
The game-winner came with 4:13 to play when Theo Walker swatted in a puck that was loose in front of the net to make it 2-1 Wolves, and Blake Botterill completed the scoring with an empty netter with 18.72 seconds remaining.
“We always talk about with our group that good teams find a way. It wasn’t super pretty tonight, but we kind of just found a way,” Bryer said. “I think the one message we had was get to the hard areas and create offense when there was not much to be had, and I think we did a good job doing that.”
The Wolves dominated territorially, especially in the third period, behind a strong forecheck. Clarkston rolled its lines over and kept Lake Orion penned in, holding Lake Orion to just four shots in the final period and even making it hard for the Dragons to pull their goalie at the end.
“It just came from sustained offense. We kept getting them in, having a great forecheck, making them turn pucks over at their own blue line,” Bryer said. “We are so good at doing it by committee, and all 12 forwards, all seven defensemen, and all three goalies buy in to what we’re trying to do. So I think that’s our M.O. — we have depth and we get it from everywhere.”
But it almost wasn’t enough. Dragons goalie Ethan Parraghi was outstanding, stopping 28 of 30 shots. He was especially good in the first period, when Clarkston outshot the Dragons and had the best chances, but still ended up trailing 1-0 at the end of the period.
“Parraghi played out of his mind tonight. Without him that game could have been a 3-0, 4-0 game in the first. And he kept us in it and kept us wanting to battle for him and to battle for the team,” Krefski said. “I thought our defense played really well, our team defensively as well. I know we blocked a ton of shots, so that’s something I’ve harped on over the years is blocking shots so our goalie doesn’t have to make 30, 40, 50 saves a night. But I thought we played well defensively.”
Lake Orion’s power play clicked early, and Luca Chiarini’s shot found its way through traffic for a goal with 32 seconds left in the period to send the Dragons into the intermission with the lead. Lake Orion was able to hold that lead for a period and a half before Clarkston’s offense finally started to find the net.
The Dragons had their chances to extend the lead in the second period, but were denied by the post three times, while Clarkston goalie Calum Hartner found a rhythm of his own. Hartner stopped 23 of 24 shots on the night.
With the win, Clarkston remains unbeaten at 6-0 on the year and 3-0 in OAA Red. The Wolves have another divisional game on Saturday when they host the M-1 Griffins.
Lake Orion (4-2 overall, 0-1 OAA Red) drops its league opener. The Dragons will look to rebound on Saturday when they face Bloomfield Hills.
“Overall, I’m happy with the way we played. We know we’ve got some work to do, and we knew they were going to be a good team. It’s nice to see where we’re at at the beginning of the season against a top team in the state,” Krefski said.