Observer & Eccentric

Lakeland hockey earned a pair of wins last week, one in regulation and one in a shootout.

Lakeland and South Lyon played a Feb. 18 game at Kensington Valley Ice House that couldn’t be determined in regulation time and needed a shootout.

The Eagles got 5-4 decision, with a 3-1 edge in shootout goals.

Bryant Cohen scored 3:14 into the first with Nolan Johnson assisting to give Lakeland the lead.

South Lyon United tied the game a little more than two minutes later.

Lakeland regained the lead with 9:07 to play in the opening period as Justin McFatridge scored from Johnson.

South Lyon answered just a little less than two minutes later.

Lakeland went back in front six minutes into the second as Nic Fernandez scored from Johnson and McFatridge.

South Lyon pulled even at 3-3 with a short-handed goal with 1:51 to play in the second.

The script continued in the third, with the Eagles netting the go-ahead goal with 6:36 to play from Johnson with assists to Nick Langley and Pat McElwee.

South Lyon scored the tying goal on the power play with just 11 seconds left, setting up the shootout.

Blake Kocsis, Matt Kovach and Johnson scored during the shootout to collect the win.

South Lyon scored on its first shot, but Adam Szymanski stopped the next three attempts for the win.

South Lyon put 38 shots on goal to 32 for Lakeland. The Eagles were hit with three penalties to four for South Lyon.

Lakeland 4, Troy Athens 2
In a non-KLAA game, the Eagles traveled Saturday to the Troy Sports Center and came away with a win.

The scoring didn’t get started until the second period, when Johnson scored from Brendan Lewis on a power play with 12:11 remaining.

McFatridge made it 2-0 a little more than a minute later from Langley and Owen Skrelunas.

Athens cut the lead in the half before the period came to a close.

The Red Hawks pulled even off the power play with just 6:21 to play.

Johnson put Lakeland back in front 50 second later, assisted by Kocsis and Justin Pahl.

Johnson notched the hat trick with an empty-netter with 28 seconds remaining, from Josh Smith.

Szymanski and Brandon Pomerleau split time almost evenly, with Szymanski stopping all 18 shots he faced.

Lakeland put 40 shots on net to 29 for Athens. The Eagles were tagged with eight penalties to seven for the Red Hawks.

Lakeland improves to 15-7-3.

Lakeland opens regional play by taking on the winner of Hartland-Walled Lake Northern at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Hartland Sports Center. The winner moves on to the regional final at 5:45 p.m. March 1.

Original Article: http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20140227/SPORTS11/302270142/Lakeland-triumphs-shootout