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Small victories are the starting point for Lions’ hockey

GENEVA, Ill. – It takes a while to change the culture of a sports program, just ask Michigan Tech head coach Mel Pearson. However, if the athletes involved are willing to make the change, the likelihood of that change occurring is improved. That is something Finlandia Lions’ men’s hockey coach Joe Burcar is counting on.

“Some of the simple goals we have, this program hasn’t won a road game in two years, they have only had a handful of wins in a season,” said Burcar. “So it’s the littlest things right now. We are just trying to build them up to that, learning how to win. Guys are buying in. They believe in what we are doing.”

To the untrained eye, a 5-1 loss to Wisconsin-Stout on Friday followed by a 10-3 loss to Wisconsin-Superior both appear to be evidence that nothing is changing for the Lions under Burcar.

While it is too early to make an official determination that assessment is right, it is not too early to say that their culture is already changing. It will be challenged, however, as, in the near future, the Lions will have to work without center Alex Rezansoff, Cody Wickstrom and Kendall Bolen-Porter.

All three went down with injuries Saturday night, forcing Burcar and his staff to spend more time creating lines on the fly than focusing on the game itself.

“I really give our guys a lot of credit, we did not let off the gas pedal” said Burcar. “We played hard, but it was like every shift we were making a new line just to compete.”

Friday night, the Lions got a power play goal from junior Thomas Clayton. Clayton had just eight career goals coming into the game, so getting an early goal for him was huge.

Saturday, despite the injuries to the players mentioned above, the Lions got goals from sophomore Max Seiter, captain Andrew Martin and freshman Sarnecki. For Seiter and Sarnecki, the goals were the first in each of their careers.

Freshman Matt Matyi picked up assists on two of the three Lions’ goals on Saturday as well, proving that he might be a player Burcar can lean on with top-end forwards Rezansoff and Bolen-Porter on the mend.

That could prove valuable as the Lions head to Chicago this weekend to face the Aurora Spartans while looking for their first road win since Feb. 14, 2014, when they beat Lawrence 4-3 in overtime.

Another freshman, Garrett Nichol, will make his debut this weekend for Finlandia against the Spartans. The 6-foot-2 winger played in 25 games for the Athens Aeros of the Central Canada Hockey League 2. He scored 12 goals and 18 points during the regular season before adding five more goals in seven playoff games.

“He’s going to actually get some power play time this weekend,” said Burcar. “He’s had a great week in practice.”

Like Finlandia, the Spartans feature a new head coach in Jason Bloomingburg and are still searching for their identity after opening the season with an 8-1 loss to No. 1 Wisconsin-Stevens Point and a 3-2 loss to then No. 11 Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Aurora is looking for someone to take the reigns offensively of this young team. Four freshmen and a sophomore figured in the scoring during their opening weekend.

The Spartans possess a formidable power play, going 2-for-10 to start the season. Freshmen Nikita Smirnov and Bayley Marshall have each found the back of the net on the advantage.

In goal, freshman Hunter Vorva will be given every opportunity to develop into the starter. He has seen action in both games for Aurora this season, going 0-2-0 with a 5.20 goals against average.

GAME TIMES: Game times for this weekend are 8 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday at the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Ill.

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