vaBLOOMFIELD TWP. – The beauty of the state tournament is that it provides a shot at redemption for teams that didn’t perform as well in the regular season as originally hoped.

That’s the case for the Utica-Fraser United hockey team.

Utica-Fraser erupted for four goals in the first 7:54 of Tuesday’s contest and never trailed in recording a 11-3 victory over Oxford-North Oakland United Eagles in a Division 1 pre-regional contest at the Detroit Skate Club.

“We didn’t want it to end,” said Alexander Gorgievski, one of several players to notch multiple points for in the game. “Ever since the beginning of the season, we wanted to get better, and at the end of the regular season we kind of re-collected ourselves and really wanted to get better. Even though the regular season didn’t turn out the way we wanted, we realized we could be a good team going into the playoffs. Looking at our region, it could be a different game for us.”

North Oakland, which brings in players from hoist Oxford, Ortonville Brandon, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Auburn Hills Avondale and Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, finished the season with a 5-21 record.   

The Eagles struggled to contain UFU’s vaunted attack.

Gorgievski finished the night with four goals and two assists and skated like his team’s postseason life depended on it. Nate Sheridan also added two goals and four assists in the game, where UFU exploded with a 47-22 shots edge in the contest.

The game ended in a mercy, as the visitors scored the final three goals in a 30-second span to end the game.

Lucas Beels gave Utica-Fraser the 1-0 lead when he finished off a pass from Sheridan only 28 seconds into the game to set the tone. Gorgievski netted the second goal with 13:38 left in the opening frame with a short-handed goal, while Beels scored again with 12:46 left and Gorgievski netted his second goal of the game with 9:06 remaining in the opening period, which eventually proved to be the game winner.

North Oakland never fully recovered.

The Eagles did score twice late in the first period and trailed Utica-Fraser at just 5-3 when Alex Favaro scored with 13:27 remaining in the second period.

That was the last ray of hope for North Oakland.

Utica-Fraser United's Nick Bandy (5) and North Oakland United's Mike Leroy (12) both skate towards the loose puck during Tuesday's Division 1 pre-regional game at the Detroit Skate Club. Bandy and UFU ended up advancing with an 11-3 win over the Eagles on Feb. 17, 2026. (DAN STICKRADT -- MediaNews Group)Utica-Fraser United’s Nick Bandy (5) and North Oakland United’s Mike Leroy (12) both skate towards the loose puck during Tuesday’s Division 1 pre-regional game at the Detroit Skate Club. Bandy and UFU ended up advancing with an 11-3 win over the Eagles on Feb. 17, 2026. (DAN STICKRADT — MediaNews Group)

Utica-Fraser United – a team that brings in players from Utica, Utica Ford, Fraser and Sterling Heights Stevenson – scored its sixth goal off the stick of Luke Muszynski with 7:42 remaining in the second frame, which gave UFU a 6-3 advantage.

Utica-Fraser United (8-19-0) put the heat on North Oakland, as Sheridan (16:35), Beels (9:44), Gorgievski (6:00 and 5:40) and Nick Bandy (5:30) tallied off a breakaway to end the game with an eight-goal margin.

“It was a really good start and a really good finish to the game for us,” said Utica-Fraser coach Evan Gizinski. “That’s something the maybe we lacked a little bit in a lot of our games the whole season. But the playoffs is do or die and our guys showed what they are capable of tonight.”

Muszynski added a goal and three assists, Beels netted a hattrick with two helpers, Bandy had a goal, Cam Zager recorded three assists, while both Jax Cristodero and Jacob Wlodarczyk drew single assists in the victory.

Eli Chodun recorded 19 saves in 22 opportunities to gain the win between the pipes.

Ben O’Dowd had a goal and two assists to lead North Oakland. Favaro and Nolan Poolton scored the other goals, while Aidan London, Mason Rodriguez and Daniel Archey picked up single assists for the Eagles.

Utica-Fraser United's Nate Sheridan (19) gets ready to celebrate after tucking home his shot past North Oakland goaltender Owen Fulscher Tuesday evening. Sheridan finished with two goals and four assists as UFU advanced with an 11-3 victory over the Eagles at the Detroit Skate Club on Feb. 17, 2026. (DAN STICKRADT -- MediaNews Group)Utica-Fraser United’s Nate Sheridan (19) gets ready to celebrate after tucking home his shot past North Oakland goaltender Owen Fulscher Tuesday evening. Sheridan finished with two goals and four assists as UFU advanced with an 11-3 victory over the Eagles at the Detroit Skate Club on Feb. 17, 2026. (DAN STICKRADT — MediaNews Group)

UFU’s next opponent is Troy United, which blanked UFU 5-0 at the MAC Showcase on Jan. 18. Revenge is on the mind of Gorgievski and his teammates.

“We beat them really early in the season and they beat us last time,” he said. “But we’re a different team right now and we want a chance to beat them this time around.”