Cougars Open Coach Gardiner Era With Win; Split With LTU

(Howell, MI)-- It was the first weekend for new Cleary Cougar hockey coach Scott Gardiner, the the team was able to earn a split with the #9 ranked Lawrence Tech Blue Devils Friday and Saturday evenings.

In Game 1 vs. LTU:  Levi Herauf would get the Cougars on the board first, with assists from Zach Perry and Erik Wafer, to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead just over halfway through the opening period.  Cleary would go on the power play late in the opening 20 minutes, and Jonny Gardiner scored his 12th goal of the season to give Cleary a 2-0 lead after the 1st.  The Blue Devils would score early in the 2nd period as both teams were settling into the flow of the game, but the Cougars would still hold a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes.  Early in the 3rd period, Ben Gledhow scored what would be the game-winning goal, with assists from Jonny Gardiner and Wes Smith, to make the score 3-1 in favor of the hosts.  LTU would answer, but the Cougars defense did the job to give the Cougars their 6th consecutive victory overall.

Tyler Krasofsky earned his 3rd win of the season, as he made 34 saves on 36 shots on goal.

In Game 2 at LTU:  After Lawrence Tech opened up the game's scoring, Cleary would get on the board with a goal from Ben Gledhow, assisted by Jonny Gardiner, to tie the game through the 1st period.  Unfortunately for the Cougars, the 2nd and 3rd periods were all Blue Devils, as the #9 ranked team would score 5 goals in that time to take a 6-1 lead, and the game.  

Tyler Krasofsky suffered the defeat in goal, allowing 6 goals on 34 shots.

Cleary is now 6-13, 4-9 in the WHAC.  The Cougars will be back in action next Friday, when they travel to Indiana Tech, and Saturday, when the host the Warriors at 140 Ice Den.  

Game Notes:

• This was Coach Scott Gardiner's first weekend at the helm for Cleary, and he earned his first victory in his first game coaching
• This was the first ever win for the program vs. a ranked team, as Lawrence Tech was #9 in the most recent ACHA rankings, at the time of the game
• Friday's victory was the first win vs. Lawrence Tech in progam history, and gave the Cougars a 6 game winning streak going into Saturday.  That 6 game streak was the longest such streak in program history