WATERFORD — With the regular season nearing its end, Huron Valley United and South Lyon Unified were tied atop of the Lakes Valley Conference with eight points each coming into Monday’s showdown at Lakeland Ice Arena.
A heated rivalry game to begin with, the intensity was kicked up a notch with the league title on the line.
With the game tied 5-5 and under two minutes left on the clock in regulation, Huron Valley took a penalty, giving South Lyon a 5-on-4 advantage. The Titans’ penalty kill kept South Lyon off of the board, and in the extra period Tommy Colt found the back of the net for the second time on the night to give the Titans a 6-5 victory and the conference championship.
Afterwards, Huron Valley head coach Tim Ronayne said, “Our penalty kill all night was pretty damn good. The second period, we got three penalties in a row, and for us to kill off those it was … We dug deep, we worked hard, it was a very emotional game.”
“Great game,” South Lyon Unified head coach Dennis Gagnon exclaimed afterwards. “Both teams played hard. In a rivalry game, the kids lose their composure sometimes, it happens with both teams, and it boils down to who can keep their composure, who can keep their heads, stay out of the box.”
The game was a back-and-forth affair all night as South Lyon Unified, ranked No. 9 in the latest Division 3 poll, opened things up with a first-period goal by Aiden Herrera before Huron Valley answered back just a few minutes later when Gavin Hewitt struck to tie things back up at 1-1.
The remainder of the first period was all South Lyon as goals by Nathan Ligi and Jackson Curtiss gave their team a two-goal advantage headed into the first intermission.
The second period saw Huron Valley pick up where South Lyon had left off in the first. The Titans managed to kill off three penalties and still put two goals on the board — one by Killian Voorhies, the other the first goal of the night for Colt — leaving the score knotted at 3-3 headed into the final period
Gagnon talked about how his team struggled to make use of the opportunity when it had the odd-man advantage. “I think we scored one power-play goal early, but we had two or three there towards the end and one at the end (where) we had some great opportunities and their goalie made some nice saves,” he said. “It’s just one of those things.”
South Lyon Unified’s Nathan Ligi picked up two goals and two assists during Monday’s 6-5 loss to Huron Valley United. (MOTH ARRICK – For MediaNews Group)
The third period was a seesaw battle with South Lyon scoring and Huron Valley responding. South Lyon had goals in that span by Ligi and Grant Laird, while the Titans scoring came from Lucas Brethauer and Craig Borges.
Photos of Huron Valley Titans vs. South Lyon Unified in LVC hockey action
In addition to the goals on the night, Huron Valley United all-time leading scorer Austin Scanlon, who was previously a big-time talisman for Lakeland before this year’s merger with Milford, added to his points total with two assists, giving him 170 career points.
Talking about Scanlon, Ronayne said, “He is a four-year player and I do remember as a freshman we had to do a lot of talking to convince him that this was the place to be. He didn’t prove us wrong. He plays hard and has developed into a really great player.”
Scanlon talked about both sides of the scoring equation, saying, “Scoring goals is always nice, but passing to my linemates is pretty satisfying as well. I enjoy both equally.
“From my senior year to freshman year, a lot has changed. I’ve grown as a person, from a freshman being the youngest guy on the team to now being a leader, preparing to make a deep playoff run.”
The win gives Huron Valley the sole ownership of the Lakes Valley Conference championship with a 5-0 record in the league and a 14-8 overall record with Cranbrook-Kingswood (second-ranked in D3) up next Wednesday.
“This year we have a very tough schedule, it was designed that way but within our league South Lyon is a great team and this is a great thing for our team moving forward to get ready for regional play,” Ronayne said.
The loss slowed a strong South Lyon Unified season, dropping its record to 4-2 in the conference and 17-5-1 overall with. Unified also returns to action on Wednesday with a home game against Jackson Lumen Christi.