Hockey: Big first period leads Chemics to win over Chargers

by Cory Butzin

Midland High wanted to come out against the Chargers and make the most of every offensive opportunity.

They did just that.

The Chemics lit the lamp four times in the first period and Kevin Alcott scored two goals as Midland cruised to a 6-1 victory over Dow Monday at Midland Civic Arena.

“It’s our first win of the year, so we’re excited about that,” said Midland Coach Jeff Brown. “It wasn’t the prettiest game I’ve ever been involved with. It was choppy on both sides, but we did get some quick goals to get the momentum.”

The momentum first turned Midland’s way three minutes into the first period when Ken Babinski scored on a backhand to give the Chemics the early 1-0 lead. Nate Scurfield assisted on the goal.

Scurfield added a goal of his own at 8:43 to make it 2-0.

Dow was unable to get anything going as they fell behind 3-0 when Matt Alcott tallied a goal at 4:11 of the first. Joel Parsons was credited with the assist.

“We just got outplayed in every aspect of the game,” said Dow coach Dick Blasy. “There wasn’t one thing that we did better than them. We had a chance to play and we just got outworked.”

Blasy pulled goalie Ben Nowak for Daniel Livernois in an attempt to reenergize the Chargers and it seemed to be working when Scott Mitchell and Jeff Lehnerer assisted on Sean Hanley’s power play goal at 2:01 of the first, narrowing the gap to 3-1.

The Chemics defense, led by net minder Jeremiah Larue, made sure the Chargers’ surge used up all their energy as they blanked Dow the rest of the way.

“We probably had two or three breakaways or half breakaways where we got a defensemen one-on-one and the goalie made some nice saves,” Blasy said.

Midland responded 16 seconds after Dow’s goal, though, when Kevin Alcott – in his first game returning from an injury – scored unassisted to push the Chemics lead to 4-1.

“It was good to have him back,” Brown said. “He’s one of our captains, one of our leaders. We’re a different team with him.”

Midland scored another goal in the second period when Parsons and Blake Benner assisted on Kevin Alcott’s second goal of the game. The Chemics completed the scoring for the evening when Caleb Digison scored from the blue line off of a Jacob Enszer assist to make it 6-1.

The win was Midland’s first of the year and moved their record to 1-1 overall and 1-1 in Saginaw Valley League play. They look to mark another notch in the win column when they take on the Bay City Central Wolves Wednesday at the Midland Civic Arena. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m.

The loss, meanwhile, dropped Dow’s record to 2-1-1 overall and 1-1 in the Valley. They look to get back on track Wednesday when they travel to Saginaw to take on the Arthur Hill Lumberjacks.

For more photos from Monday’s game click on “Photo Slideshow” in the top right corner of this article.

Photos by Dave Williams & Cory Butzin