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Anderson, Loukus net goals in Calumet’s 2-1 win over Detroit-Jesuit

Bryce Derouin/Daily Mining Gazette Calumet’s Brent Loukus scores a goal in the third period against Detroit-Jesuit Saturday at the Calumet Colosseum. Calumet won 2-1.

CALUMET — The night started off with the University of Detroit-Jesuit faithful believing  they should be up 2-0. It ended with Calumet’s top line making the clutch plays that’s expected of them.

Rory Anderson and Brent Loukus each scored goals for the Copper Kings in the third period to defeat the Detroit-Jesuit Cubs 2-1 Saturday at the Calumet Colosseum. The victory is Calumet’s fifth straight since losing Dec. 28 in the Holiday Classic to the Houghton Gremlins.

A day after Loukus scored three times and Anderson twice, they continued their offensive success into the third when Calumet trailed 1-0.

“We just worked them down low,” Anderson said about the top line. Anderson scored the go-ahead power play goal 6 minutes, 12 seconds into the third on a snipe from the right circle. “We move the puck quick, find open space and it works.

“To come out hard in the third was big. They were kind of holding back and we just went after it.”

Anderson and Loukus each lead the Copper Kings with 27 points. Ed Beiring, their other linemate, is third on the team with 16 points.

“They just move the puck well and are a nice mix,” Calumet head coach Dan Giachino said. “Rory has a lot of speed; Brent’s got the nice touch around the net; and Ed does a great job down low protecting the puck. The three of them complement each other very well. When those three start moving their feet as a group, they’re tough to stop.”

But before Anderson scored a goal in his fifth straight game, and before Loukus made an acrobatic goal off a face off, Detroit-Jesuit netted what appeared to be two goals in the first three minutes of the contest.

Just 1:01 in, the Cubs celebrated like they had scored, but it was waved off. Then, 1:56 later, another goal was waved off, killing off another celebration.

“We definitely did score twice,” Detroit-Jesuit head coach Rick Bennetts said. “The ref came over after the end of the first period and apologized for blowing the whistle too fast.

“It happens. You just have to play through those things. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t know if it would have changed the outcome because you can’t predict those things.”

The third time was the charm when Detroit-Jesuit’s Colin Houston was credited with the deflection on the power play goal 2:46 into the third. This goal would stand.

Much of Detroit-Jesuit’s downfall in its 7-2 loss on Friday was attributed to nine penalties for 21 minutes. Calumet took advantage, going 3 for 8 on the power play. But Saturday was much cleaner for the Cubs; they took just three penalties for six minutes.

As for Calumet, three of its penalties came in the second period, halting the offensive momentum they had while setting up Detroit-Jesuit’s goal.

“I thought we came out hard in the second,” Giachino said. “We got into some penalty issues that threw us out of our flow for a good chunk of the period.

“We just stressed to them to continue to hard work, stay out of the penalty box in the third period and keep playing 5 on 5 and keep the puck on their end.”

Right from the start of the third, Calumet’s sense of urgency was apparent. The Copper Kings sent rush after rush at Detroit-Jesuit goalie Patrick DiRita. Calumet held a 10-2 shot advantage in the period.

“We knew we had to try to weather a storm,” Bennetts said. “We just weren’t able to do it. It was still a pretty good effort from everybody — better than what we had in the previous five or six games.”

Similar to his game-winning overtime goal against Rochester United on Dec. 9, Loukus once again scored off the face off from the right circle. This time, he managed to fire off a shot as he was being tackled by a Detroit-Jesuit player for the equalizer 3:43 into the third.

“I just tried to put the puck forward,” Loukus said. “Their defense didn’t really have anyone in front of the net. They were up on Ed on the hash marks, so I tried to get it through with a little space. The kid held me up, but I still got the shot off and it went over the goalie’s shoulder.

“I actually didn’t know it went in right away. I saw Ed celebrate first.”

Calumet’s Nick Voelker earned the win, stopping 11 of 12 shots. Besides a scrum in front of the net in the final seconds, Detroit-Jesuit never made a serious threat to tie the game again.

Calumet held a 23-12 advantage on shots.

Next, the Copper Kings host Escanaba on Thursday.

D-J 0 1 0     1

CAL 0 0 2     2

Second period

1. D-J: Colin Houston (Ben Charboneau, Julius Spognardi), 2:46

Third period

2. CAL: Brent Loukus, 3:43

3. CAL: Rory Anderson (Brent Loukus), 6:12

Saves

D-J: DiRita 6 7 8      21

CAL: Voelker 4 5 2      11

Penalties

D-J: 3/6; CAL: 4/8

Power plays

D-J: 1/4; CAL: 1/3

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