Power play goals help De La Salle defeat L’Anse Creuse Unified – Macomb Daily

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De La Salle Collegiate has started a week of turkey and trimmings well.

Robert VanderDonck scored twice on the power play in a three-goal first period that led the Pilots to a 5-1 win over L’Anse Creuse Unified in a non-league hockey game at Mount Clemens Ice Arena Monday.

De La Salle celebrates a goal scored by Logan Robbins (55) in the first half of a game against L’Anse Creuse Unified at Mount Clemens Ice Arena on Monday. (DAVID DALTON for MediaNews Group)

Logan Robbins also scored in the first period and Colton Fuqua and Jacob Jansen scored with less than two minutes left in the third as De La Salle improved to 3-0.

The game marked the start of a major Thanksgiving Week sports program for the Warren School. The soccer team plays at Traverse City Central at 1 p.m. Friday in the Division 2 State Championship game at Ford Field.

Wednesday night, the hockey team skates against Eisenhower at the Suburban Ice Macomb.

VanderDonck passed through Branden Stabnick’s crease and dropped the puck into the open side of the net for his first goal, and he fought off a rebound for his second, giving the Drivers a 3-0 lead with 1:40 to play. in the period.

“It was a bit of a top-down game for us,” said coach Sean Clark, reflecting on the Drivers’ performance. “We started well, the power play was executed well, and then we kind of got away from our game and started taking penalties. “

De La Salle killed two minor penalties in the second period, but Kenny Michie of L’Anse Creuse Unified conceded a player against the Drivers for a major.

“It’s the first goal we gave on the power play, and it was on a five-minute major,” said Clark, whose team opened the season with MIHL South wins over Grosse Pointe Sud. and Grosse Pointe Nord. “Our penalty kill has been great all year.

“Our guys agreed. They work hard, they block the shots and they do the right things.”

Eisenhower’s match will be De La Salle’s fourth in eight days.

“We didn’t have a lot of time to train as a group,” said Clark. “We’re still learning a lot, but we have a group that can really skate and play. They are fun when you do that. Now is the time to acquire mental toughness, our ability to cope with adversity.

A unified shot from L’Anse Creuse hit a goal post with 2:01 left and DLS leading 3-1.

That tight call and his side’s ability to keep De La Salle from scoring throughout the second period and the first 15+ minutes of the third were important for coach Jon Nader.

“Hitting that post in the last two minutes – it could have been a different game,” Nader said. “We allowed two power play goals in the first period. Without those, it’s a 1-1 game before the third.

“We fought back. It’s a fast team, a good team. I give them a lot of credit. I think we were a little shocked at first by their speed, but we slowed them down in the second and third periods. We bounced back and made it into a game.

Stabnick and Seaton Heilman had two assists each for De La Salle. Jake Gangola and James Sigmon each had one.

Fuqua, who scored with 1:49 remaining, and Jansen, who scored with 1:13 remaining, entered the table with the teams evenly matched.

Max Till and Luke Knoche assisted on Michie’s goal with 4:27 left in the second period.

LCU (2-1) takes on Eisenhower in their MAC Red Division opener at the Suburban Ice Macomb on Friday.

Knight Invitation

Romeo will host the four-game Keith Knight Invitational at the Suburban Ice Macomb this weekend to honor the memory of his former hockey coach.

The Bulldogs face Grosse Pointe Nord at 5:30 pm Friday and St. Clair Shores at 5:30 pm Saturday.

Utica-Ford Unified will play St. Clair Shores at 3 p.m. Friday and Grosse Pointe North will play Utica-Ford at 3 p.m. Saturday.

A ceremony in Knight’s honor will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Admission to all games is free.

Knight died in June of complications from COVID-19. He was 57 years old.

Knight’s survivors included his wife, D’Ann, and children Ryan, Robert and Valerie.

Suburban Ice Macomb is located at 54755 Broughton Road, Macomb Township.

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