strong weekend for titans

January 19-20, 2007.  The varsity Titans tightened their grip on the Northwest Conference standings with two strong wins against their closest challengers.  SJJ beat Findlay 4-1 and Northview 5-1 to up their conference record to 5-1-1.

This weekend seemed to be potentially a turning point for the top four teams in the conference.  All four controlled their destiny as they were all scheduled to play two games against their closest challengers.  On Friday, SJJ had to travel to Findlay, always a tough place to play.  The Titans got to work early and jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead.  After Findlay cut the lead to one with a goal of their own, SJJ came back with two goals in the second to take a 4-1 lead.  They were able to kill off four penalties in the third and skated out of Findlay with a 4-1 victory.  Cam Hauenstein scored two goals to pace the Titans with Dan Johnson and Andrew Heldt added two assists a piece.  Tyler Marzec made 15 saves to get the victory in goal.

The weekend didn’t get any easier as the Titans played rival Northview who also recorded an impressive victory over SFS on Friday.  The match-up would determine who comes away from the weekend with the conference lead.  SJJ came out determined early and scored 3 first period goals to take a 3-1 lead after one period.  The second period saw Northview playing determined hockey and really put the pressure on.  Tyler Marzec was able to make several key saves to keep it at 3-1.  Ray Morris broke Northview’s spirit with a late goal in the second to up the lead to 4-1.  An early Titan goal in the third made it 5-1 and the SJJ defense made sure the weekend was perfect by limiting Northview to one shot for the period.  Final score SJJ 5 and Northview 1.  The line of Andrew Heldt, Ray Morris, and Shane Hetrick provided all of the offense as Hetrick and Morris both scored two goals and Shane assisted on Eli Riddle’s goal.  Andrew Heldt dished out two more assists and Tyler Marzec made 18 saves to earn his second impressive victory for the weekend.

Nice job to everyone for a very good weekend.  Remember, the biggest contributions in a victory are the ones that never show up on the score sheet.