Hockey Night in West Michigan Roundup

This really was a great Hockey Night in West Michigan. I had a feeling going into it. Look at the "games to watch" picked below. All but one were one-goal games, and the one that wasn't was a 0-0 tie. Three went into overtime, and we haven't even begun to talk about GRCC vs. Wyandotte game in the finals of the East-West Invitational (another OT game). Plus, there were a couple of nailbiters in OK Conference play. A rundown:

Wyandotte 2 GRCC 1 (OT): Wyandotte's stud Stephen Brancheau scores with a snipe in overtime to lift Wyandotte to a 2-1 win over Grand Rapids Catholic Central in the inaugural East-West Invitational Tourney at Griffs. Kevin Boman scored a shorthanded goal for GRCC and Adam Janecyk kept it close with 34 saves. The GR Press has coverage here, and FOX-17 has video highlights here.

East Kentwood 5 FHN/E 4 (OT): East Kentwood falls behind early and rallies back against FHN/E, tying the game with 5 seconds left in regulation and then getting the winner in OT from co-captain Ben Grover, who had a hat trick. Falcons netminder Zach Bresko gets the win in nets. EK is featured in the FOX-17 prep highlights and the box score is here.

Portage Central 0 OLSM 0 (OT): Portage Central takes OLSM through a scoreless regulation and neither team can get one past the netminders in OT either. PC sophomore goalie Brogan Vandervelde plays a super game to earn (and we mean "earn") the tie.

Birmingham Brother Rice 3 Mona Shores 2 (OT): Mona senior Adam Meloche tied the game with 50 seconds left to force overtime at Lakeshore, but Brother Rice scored the winner while on the PP with 1:17 left in the extra session. David Coppock also scored for Mona Shores. Scott Tiefenthal took the loss in the nets, despite turning back 29 shots.

Hudsonville 6 GR Christian 2: Despite missing 4 players and two coaches to the flu bug, H'ville nets a 6-2 win over GR Christian at "the Rog" (ie, the venerable Jolly Rogers) thanks to a healthy performance by senior forward John Kersaan, who gets 4 goals and 1 assist.

Kenowa Hills 2 Muskegon Reeths-Puffer 1: Kenowa Hills remains undefeated in OK-2 league play with a 2-1 win against Muskegon Reeths-Puffer. All the goals were scored in the second period: Vinny Klein get the Knights' first goal and then Joe Hankins jumps off the bench at the end of a penalty and goes all Datsyuk on MRP's goalie to the game-winner. Ben Sikkenga scored for Reeths-Puffer. Zac "Fuzzy" Smith gets the win between the pipes for Kenowa and, for the second straight game, gets an assist on the game-winner. Check the box score here and read the Muskegon Chronicle story here.

Rockford 6 West Catholic 0: Rockford gets back to their winning ways with a 6-0 victory over West Catholic. West Catholic played the Rams even in the first and Rockford scored 3 in the 2nd period and three in the third period. Tyler Glass led the rams with 3 goals while Shea Mills, Sam Kreuze, and Jake Chaffee each tallied one for the Rams. Christian Van Portfliet turned away all 13 shots he faced for the shutout.

West Ottawa 5 Northview 1: After a scoreless first half, West Ottawa erupts for five goals to beat Northview. Matt Jaiven had two goals, while Cody Skinner turned back 14 Northview shots for the win. The box score is here.