This small area here in southeast Michigan features several of the top hockey teams in the state and two of them squared off on Saturday night at the Vet in Ann Arbor in a post snowstorm hockey game.
Both Pioneer and Dexter skated into Saturday’s game playing well and both sides feature quality goaltenders. Despite being outshot 32-17, the Pioneers hung on for a 2-1 win over the Dreadnaughts.
“We deserved a better result,” said Dexter Coach Justin Young. “We scored on our own net to give them their first late in the first period. They scored late in the second to make it 2-0 on a nice line rush. We got caught being sloppy off an offensive zone draw and got beat back to our net. We scored early in third period to make it 2-1 off a scramble in front of their net.”
Despite the outcome, Young saw plenty of positives from his talented and hard-working Dreadnaughts.
“I was proud of our effort,” he said. “If we continue to play that way we’re going to win a lot more often than we lose.”
Both Dexter freshman Caleb Kril and Pioneer senior Michael Leighton played strong games in net for their teams.
At 4:09 of the first period, Gabe Resnicow scored with assists from Parker Churchill and Sean Fitzgerald to give Pioneer a 1-0 lead. At 3:59 of the second period, Ethan Kotre scored with assists from Jack Ceccacci and Junah Whitelocke to give Pioneer a 2-0 lead.
At 16:41 of the third period, Dexter’s Dalton Wright scored with an assist from Johnny Poszywak to cut the deficit in half.
The game was light on penalties. Dexter had only three while Pioneer had just two. All five were minor penalties.
Pioneer plays Lenawee Christian at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Ice Cube. Dexter plays at 5 p.m. on Wednesday against Huron at the Ice Cube.
Shots per period:
1st – 13-6 in favor of Dexter
2nd – 6-4 in favor of Dexter
3rd – 13-7 in favor of Dexter.
