The Reeths-Puffer hockey team had a good weekend at Lakeshore Sports Centre with one victory and a very competitive loss to a highly-ranked team.
The Rockets defeated Canton 6-1 on Friday, with six different players scoring and Eli Cuti collecting three assists.
R-P took control right away in the first period with goals from Tyler Tindall, Buckey Aney, Ayden Hartzell and Trenton Hanks.
Jaxon Stone added a goal in the second period and Croix Klint wrapped things up with a tally in the third.
Stone and Avery Wolfe-Sabo each had two assists for R-P while Aney, Dewey Modaff, Kaeden Benner and Huck VanDyke each had one.
Eli Cuti
“We had a lot of guys step up and make some big plays for us,” said R-P Coach Dustin Langlois.”Those are the goals that will give us success. We can only lean on our top guys so much. All of the players are contributing. It’s a great thing to see. Our power play has been doing well, also. We are managing the penalties better and trending in the right direction.”
The Rockets lost 7-4 to highly-ranked Clarkston on Saturday in a game that was closer than the final score indicated.
The first period was scoreless, then R-P collected goals from Connor Stawski, Stone and Klint and led 3-2 headed into the second.
The third period was marred by 10 penalties called on the two teams. Clarkston scored three unanswered goals to take a 5-3 lead.
Croix Klint
Reeths-Puffer was called for a five-minute major penalty with 4:28 left in the game, meaning the Rockets had to play a man short the rest of the way. Tindall scored a shorthanded goal with 3:20 remaining to pull R-P within one, then the Rockets had to pull its goalie for an extra attacker and Clarkston was able to score two open-netters to close the game.
Stone, Hanks, Tyler Cuti, Eli Cuti, Ricky Wiggins and Gavin Pastotnik each had assists for the Rockets.
"This didn’t feel like a loss from a coaches’ standpoint,” Langlois said. “The boys battled hard for all 51 minutes of the game against a ranked team. We adjusted some things and the boys did a great job of mirroring what we had planned.
“I couldn't be more proud of every single player on our team. I know the name Reeths-Puffer won’t leave Clarkston's head for the rest of the season!"
Reeths-Puffer is now 8-7 on the season.
