East Kentwood 3 Rockford 2

East Kentwood hung on for a 3-2 win over Rockford tonight in an important OK Conference league game. The Falcons dominated much of a very physical first period, netting two quick goals in the first six minutes of play. Travis Miller got EK on the board first with a PP goal at the 9:58 mark, assisted by Jeff Sanders and Matt Herman. The Falcons struck again just 57 seconds later on a goal by Miguel Rodriguez (assist to Adam Bezemek). After falling behind, Rockford picked up the hitting and showed some grit, finally getting on the board with 55.2 seconds left in the period with a tally by Adam Hoard (assists to Travis Guest and Jake Chaffee).

Rockford continued to press in the second period, but couldn't sneak one past the Falcon's junior goalie Zach Bresko, who turned away 23 of 24 shots through the first two periods. Ram's tender Forrest Andrus wasn't quite as busy, facing just 6 shots in the second stanza after a 9 shot first. His time would come.

In the third, Kentwood came out flying and looked like it was going to put the game away. Brennan McBride scored 1:44 into the third when he was left alone in front of the net (assists to Sanders and Anthony Pino), and the Falcons repeatedly sprung players for breakaway opportunities that Andrus turned away to keep Rockford within striking distance. As in the first period, Rockford regained momentum late and gritted out several excellent chances, capped Andrew Beeg's goal at with 1:39 left (Mason McGillicudy assist) . The Rams pulled Andrus with the clock winding down, but Bresko and the Falcons held on to get the win. Bresko ended up with 31 saves. Andrus had 21. Pix, including scoresheet, are below. For your convenience, the box score is posted on MLIVE here.