This story was reported and written by Patti Harlick.
The Royal Oak Ravens Varsity Hockey team soared over Utica Stevenson with a resounding 4-0 shutout at Royal Oak’s Lindell Arena on Wednesday night. In addition to the familiar returning faces from last year, including seniors Evan Fall, Kevin Trumble, and Drew Hall, the Ravens have added additional size and speed with underclassmen Cody Burns and Wade Herbert.
Ravens head coach Craig Ward commented on his team’s preparation, saying “We have been preparing for the first game for two weeks and I thought we came out excited, focused and ready to play. Overall we played as well as we needed to get the job done. I thought the defense stepped up and played very well and offensively we had our chances. Goaltending was as solid as it could be with Danny Harlick between the pipes. “
From a spectator’s view, game play was heavily controlled by Royal Oak right from the start. The power play got things going for the Ravens in the opening period with junior forward Griffin Kernen scoring his first of two for the campaign’s inaugural goal. The Ravens continued to dominate play into the second when senior forward Kevin Trumble skated end to end through several Utica defenders, broke across the Utica blue line and fed Tanner Kinkela for a beautiful one-timer. The Ravens were up 2-0.
Penalties threatened the Ravens in the third period when they were tasked with killing four minutes of consecutive 5 on 3. However, in spite of Utica’s best efforts, the Ravens defense and goaltending were simply too much, stopping everything that Utica threw at them.
In the end, Coach Ward was pleased with the shutout. “It’s a good start to the season when you can come in your own house and shut out a team. We still have some work to do as this is a marathon and not a sprint. I would like to thank the students for the support for the team because they were loud and provided an atmosphere we would like to see every game.”
Additional scoring was added by Kernen (his second) and senior Evan Fall.
The Ravens next home game is Wednesday, Nov. 27, against Royal Oak Shrine at John Lindell Ice Arena. Game time is 8 p.m.
The Royal Oak Ravens Varsity Hockey team soared over Utica Stevenson with a resounding 4-0 shutout at Royal Oak’s Lindell Arena on Wednesday night. In addition to the familiar returning faces from last year, including seniors Evan Fall, Kevin Trumble, and Drew Hall, the Ravens have added additional size and speed with underclassmen Cody Burns and Wade Herbert.
Ravens head coach Craig Ward commented on his team’s preparation, saying “We have been preparing for the first game for two weeks and I thought we came out excited, focused and ready to play. Overall we played as well as we needed to get the job done. I thought the defense stepped up and played very well and offensively we had our chances. Goaltending was as solid as it could be with Danny Harlick between the pipes. “
From a spectator’s view, game play was heavily controlled by Royal Oak right from the start. The power play got things going for the Ravens in the opening period with junior forward Griffin Kernen scoring his first of two for the campaign’s inaugural goal. The Ravens continued to dominate play into the second when senior forward Kevin Trumble skated end to end through several Utica defenders, broke across the Utica blue line and fed Tanner Kinkela for a beautiful one-timer. The Ravens were up 2-0.
Penalties threatened the Ravens in the third period when they were tasked with killing four minutes of consecutive 5 on 3. However, in spite of Utica’s best efforts, the Ravens defense and goaltending were simply too much, stopping everything that Utica threw at them.
In the end, Coach Ward was pleased with the shutout. “It’s a good start to the season when you can come in your own house and shut out a team. We still have some work to do as this is a marathon and not a sprint. I would like to thank the students for the support for the team because they were loud and provided an atmosphere we would like to see every game.”
Additional scoring was added by Kernen (his second) and senior Evan Fall.
The Ravens next home game is Wednesday, Nov. 27, against Royal Oak Shrine at John Lindell Ice Arena. Game time is 8 p.m.
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