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Bulldogs fall in shutout at home by Falcons, 3-0, Friday

Daily Mining Gazette/Jamie Glenn Hancock’s Austin Salani (4) fires a shot on goal while teammate Bryce Randell (13) watches during a game against Rochester United Friday at the Houghton County Arena.

HANCOCK — Friday was a test of defensive toughness for the Hancock Bulldogs hockey team as they held the visiting Rochester United Falcons scoreless in the opening period with tough saves from Bulldogs goalie Philio Rios, who had 11  stops in the frame. Unfortunately, it was a matter of time before 24 penalty minutes took their toll on the Bulldogs, contributing to an eventual 3-0 loss at the Houghton County Arena.

“When we stayed 5-on-5, I thought we were pretty competitive (but) once we got into penalty situations, we don’t get to play as many guys that we like to play,” said Bulldogs coach Dan Rouleau. “Being a young team, it catches up  to you and it did tonight.”

“I thought we had a little bit of a slow start there. I thought it was kind of tough to get into a rhythm,” said Rochester United coach Bryan Kowalski. “We had some chances on the power play and we were able to capitalize on one to get us going a little bit.”

The Bulldogs found themselves short for much of the second half of the contest with the puck resting at the visitors end of the ice for much of the game.

The Falcons broke through late in the second period when Kyle Crutchfield the net off a pass from Austin Steng at 13:36 on a power play. The goal gave Rochester the momentum they needed to eventually take the game.

“I thought we were on our heels a little bit,” said Kowalski. “Then we had a chance to get on to special teams and (it) was a good shot back there by Kyle Crutchfield (with) a good screen in front of the net. We needed it because we needed to shift the momentum.”

The Falcons struck twice more in the third 2:38 apart to put the game out of reach.

Nikesh Solanki scored the first 3:15 into the third period. The second came off the stick of Crutchfield again at 5:53, also on the man advantage.

“They got a little stronger as they went along too because they rolled three or four lines,” Rouleau said. “When your playing more people against less people, it’s going to make a difference. I just thought we just got a little more tired as the game went along because of our penalty situation.”

Coach Rouleau would like to see his team improve on penalties per game and, in turn, create more scoring opportunities.

“We like to roll three lines,” said Rouleau. “Most of our our penalty killers are first- and second-line guys so the third line doesn’t get as much time. It’s just not a good situation.”

We need work on scoring,” said Rouleau. “We’re squeezing the sticks really hard. We broke out against Traverse City with six goals, but beyond that we haven’t scored much. We really need to work on that quite a bit.”

Hancock will face Livonia Stevenson today at 1 p.m. at the Houghton County Arena. Rochester United will face Houghton today at 1 p.m. at the Dee Stadium.

Scoring

Rochester 0 1 2 – 3

Hancock 0 0 0 – 0

First period

None

Second period

1, RU, Kyle Crutchfield (Austin Streng), PP, 13:36

Third period

2, RU, Nikesh Solanski (Niko Mantios, Aaron Jagfield), 3:15

3, RU, Crutchfield (Marcello Munaco), PP, 5:53

Saves

RU, Godlewski 10 6 7 – 23

HCH: Rios 12 11 7 – 30

Power plays

RU: 1/7; HCH: 0/6

Penalties

RU: 6/14; HCH: 8/24

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