NORTHVILLE OUTLASTS NOVI IN RIVALRY GAME
The Northville Mustangs survived a wild finish to claim a 4-2 win over rival Novi in Tuesday night’s Kensington Lakes Athletic Association contest.
With the game tied 1-1 late, the teams combined for four goal in the last three minutes.
Tommy Loebach found Cole Lefere with a cross-ice pass, and Lefere picked the top right corner from just inside the right faceoff dot for what proved to be the eventual game winner with just 1:07 remaining. Tommy Marinoff added an empty net goal with 22.3 seconds remaining to seal the game.
“Any time you play a rivalry game they’re going to be close, and we talked between the second and third (periods). The reality is that it’s games like that that really get you ready for even bigger games down the road, playoff games, because they have that intensity. They have that feel. They have that crowd,” Northville head coach Ryan Ossenmacher said.
The teams had traded goals just before Lefere’s game-winner. Loebach had put Northville ahead with 2:27 remaining. Matthew Heirtzler found Loebach as the trailer in transition. Loebach ripped a shot from just inside the blue line. Novi goalie Henri Lettman made a good save on Loebach’s initial shot, but Loebach followed his own shot and hammered home the rebound to make it 2-1 Northville.
But the Wildcats had plenty of fight left in them. Novi tied the game just 39 seconds later. The Wildcats won a faceoff in the Northville end, and Luke Londo set up Trevor Reed in the slot. Reed’s quick shot found its way through traffic in front to tie the game 2-2.
“I’m proud of our team for all three periods. I thought we
worked hard. We came in and told them after the second period that we couldn’t leave anything on the ice, and we didn’t. Credit to Northville, they took advantage of their opportunities, and they’re a very wellcoached team,” Novi head coach Dominic Lis said. “It’s an emotional ride, and it’s fun to get caught up in. We talked about it before the game where these rivalry games, the highs are going to be high, and the lows are going to be low. And unfortunately, we ended on one of those valleys.”
Both goalies came up big in what was a tightly contested game throughout. Lettman made 25 saves for Novi with more than half coming in the second period when the Mustangs dominated the action.
“I thought Henry played
well,” Lis said. “All of those goals were rebounds or scrums in front of the net, and those are always tough. A couple of bounce either way — it bounces on their stick, it bounces on ours. Unfortunately, it bounced on their stick. They got the puck and put it in the net.”
Northville goalie Jackson Morgan came up with 20 saves, including stopping a penalty shot midway through the third period with game still tied at 1-1.
“That penalty shot, for sure, is the opportunity that changed the momentum of the game in their favor. So he comes up big in that moment. He made a bunch of quality saves. He showed, I thought, a lot of poise in net tonight,” Ossemacher said. “And when he does that, he’s a good goalie. He’s a big body, and pucks find a way to hit him. He did a nice job tonight.”
Novi had controlled the first period, outshooting the
Mustangs 8-4 and largely standing them up at the blue line, giving Northville very little possession in Novi’s end. However, the Wildcats could not take advantage and went into the intermission scoreless. The Mustangs regrouped and came out strong in the second period, getting nine shots in the first five minutes as well as the game’s opening goal from Lefere. Novi would quickly recover after that, tying the game on a goal by Jackson Kinter less than three minutes later and setting up the dramatic third period.
“I think especially for the number of new guys that we have that kind of atmosphere, it’s a lot of nerves, gripping the stick a little tight, a lot of people in the stands. So I think it just took us a little bit of time to realize at the end of the day it’s a hockey game, and what works last week works today, and what works today is going to work tomorrow. Once we figured that out, I was happy with their effort. Novi is a good team. They’ve got some skill, and we’ll obviously see them down the road,” Ossenmacher said.
Both teams are now 1-2 overall. Novi is also 1-2 in the KLAA West. The Wildcats have a week off before facing Hartland next Wednesday.
“Our message after the game is that it sucks, and we’re going to let it suck. And it’s going to be hard for the next 12 hours or so. But tomorrow we wake up. It’s another day. We get to get in the weight room, get to practice, and hopefully go into the break refreshed and motivated for our next game, next Wednesday against Hartland,” Lis said.
Northville (1-0 KLAA West) heads to Traverse City this weekend for a pair of road games against both Traverse City West and Traverse City Central.