Hockey: Chemics’ late game magic continues

by Cory Butzin

They’ve had two consecutive overtime thrillers.

And now the Chemics have two consecutive overtime wins.

The Midland High hockey team overcame a poor special teams performance and a late two goal deficit against Davison Tuesday to send the game to overtime where Nate Scurfield lit the lamp for his second goal of the night to give the Chemics a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over the Cardinals in the quarterfinals of the District 2 hockey tournament at the Dow Event Center.

“We kept working hard and it paid off,” said Midland coach Jeff Brown. “They weren’t pretty, but we kept throwing it at the net. We were scrambling, but they all count.”

The momentum seemed to be in the Chemics’ favor early when several Davison penalties put Midland on the power play. But special teams proved to be an Achilles’ heal for the Chemics throughout the night.

The game was scoreless in the first period until two Cardinal penalties gave Midland a 5-on-3 advantage for over a minute. However, the Chemics couldn’t take advantage. Instead, Davison forward Kyle VanWormer took advantage of a Midland turnover in its own end, cashing in on a breakaway to give the Cardinals a 1-0 advantage going into the second period.

Despite the early setback, the Chemics kept control of the puck, dominating the tempo. At 3:42 of the second period, Joel Parsons drove the puck on net and then buried his own rebound past Cardinals’ goalie Nick Dowto tie the score 1-1.

However, special teams hurt Midland once again. At 8:03 of the second, Davison defenseman Ben Marengo was given a two-minute minor for holding, and fifty-five seconds later VanWormer scored a shorthanded goal to give Davison the momentum and a 2-1 lead. Ben Welch assisted on the goal.

The third period began and Midland continued to control the puck and dominate shots on goal, but they were unable to tie the score. At 4:26 of the third, when VanWormer scored his third goal of the game on the power play to give the Cardinals a two goal lead, things began to look bleak for the Chemics.

But they were not out of it yet.

“We said hey guys…we can score goals in a hurry so let’s keep plugging away,” Brown said.

Midway through the period, just after finishing a power play, Midland shot the puck on net and in the scrum that followed Scurfield punched it in to bring the Chemics within one at 7:13 of the third. Garett Curtis and Matt Alcott were credited with the assists.

Time was winding down and it seemed like special teams was finally starting to go Midlands’ way. The Chemics had gone 0-for-7 on the power play up until that point, but they got one more shot at 10:09 of the third when Davison forward Dan Allard was given two minutes for a check to the head. And with two seconds remaining on the power play, at 12:07 of the third, Parsons and Blake Benner assisted on a goal by Kevin Woodward to tie the score 3-3.

Midland had the momentum and the Dow Event Center was roaring as the Chemics made a last ditch effort to close the game before sudden death. But the last break of regulation did not go their way. Midland dumped the puck into the Davison end, and as Kevin Alcott raced to gain control of it he ran into the Davison goaltender, drawing a two-minute penalty for charging with 1:17 remaining.

The Cardinals were unable to capitalize on the power play in regulation sending the game to overtime.

In the extra period, Midland killed off the penalty and got a power play of their own but couldn’t convert. But they didn’t need a power play.

“Our power play stunk,” Brown said. “In the overtime, once we got off the power play again, we had the heat on.”

The heat was too much for the Carindals to handle and with less than two minutes remaining in overtime Ken Babinski drove the puck into the Davison zone and threw it on net where Scurfield buried it for the game-winner. Babinski and Benner were credited with assists.

“We were getting the shots, even though we weren’t necessarily clicking real good,” Brown said. “Once we got it in there zone I thought the pressure was really good. We’ve got some things to work on, but we’re glad we’re moving on and we’re fortunate.”

The win improves the Chemics’ record to 22-2 and avenges a loss to the Cardinals in the quarterfinals when this year’s seniors were freshman. Midland advances to the semi-finals Thursday at Compuware Arena in Plymouth were they will take on fifth ranked Farmington. Game time is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.