Jackson United beats Lumen 4-3 on the ice, sweep season series for first time ever
By Mike Moore
Staff Writer
Jackson – If it was permitted, Jackson United hockey coach Andy Sinkovitz said he may start declining power-play opportunities for his squad.
And he at least appeared to be joking.
The United squad’s goal of sweeping Lumen Christi this winter nearly collapsed thanks to two short-handed goals by the Titans, and another shot that rang off the post.
But pretty or not, Jackson did just enough, and for the first time in program history won both meetings against its top rival with a 4-3 victory Saturday night at the Optimist Ice Arena.
“Our goal this year was to get to 20 wins, and that was it right there,” Sinkovitz said afterwards. “Lumen has improved a ton since the first time we saw them. They made it tough on us all night, but good teams will do that.”
Jackson won the first meeting 6-2, and Nic Weller got the orange and black on the board first Saturday night, taking advantage of a Lumen turnover in front of its own net just 6:54 into the first period.
But the Titans answered roughly three minutes later on a Grant Smith tally.
The scored remained tied at 1-1 until Jackson’s Alex Gwinn took the puck at center ice, worked his way around the Lumen defense and buried a wrist shot for a 2-1 lead with just 41.7 seconds to play in the first period.
Jackson scored the only two of the second period, as Charlie Bonser beat Lumen goalie Brogan Sullivan less than two minutes into the frame, and Gwinn scored his second of the game and 36th of the year with 4:12 to play.
Lumen came out and dominated the early portions of the third, but failed to take advantage of some key opportunities, including a 5-on-3 power play.
But then the Titans’ penalty kill became a scoring machine.
With a Jackson on a 5-on-3 power play, Lumen’s Alex Lasky blocked a shot from the point and took the redirect in for a breakaway goal with 10:22 remaining in regulation.
With 3:55 to play, and killing a 5-on-4 power play, Zach Thompson jumped on a misplayed puck and scored Lumen’s second short-handed goal of the period.
“We’ve joked this year about declining penalties from now on,” Sinkovits said. “We’ve worked on 5-on-3 and not taking shots from up top, and what do we do, but take a shot from up top that results in a goal.”
The Titans kept pressure on the rest of the game, hitting the post with less than a minute to play, but couldn’t beat Jackson goalie Lucas Chapel for a fourth time.
Chapel improved to 11-3-0 on the season and finished with 27 saves.
Gwinn added an assist to finish the game with three points.
Jackson improved to 20-3-1 with the victory.
“You have to like getting a win here, even if it was ugly,” Sinkovits added. “We haven’t lost a game in 2016, which is nice. You want to carry the momentum of these wins into the playoffs.”
Jackson’s last loss was Dec. 26 and the team is riding a 15-game win streak.
Lumen is now 9-14-0.
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports. You can reach him at mjm12@albion.edu. He’s also the author of ‘Love, Defined; A Dedication to the Love, Sacrifice, and Magic of Motherhood.’
Love, Defined is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Tate Publishing or by contacting Mike directly.