Hudsonville 5 Reeths-Puffer 1

The four-horse-race for the top spot in Tier 2 was narrowed a three-horse-sprint on Wednesday night with Hudsonville’s convincing 5-1 win over Reeths-Puffer at Lakeshore Arena. The Eagles took the early lead three minutes in when Parker Host found Jordan Jonker who slipped it past Aaron Young (26 shots – 21 saves) for the score. The Rockets came back just 48 seconds later when Ben Sikkenga knocked a loose puck behind the net to Joe Steritt who picked it up and wrapped it in for the tying goal. That would be the lone tally of the night for Puffer as the Eagles offense took flight and scored three more times in the opening period. Alex Host and Alex DeCorte got the cycling going and found John Kersaan who finished it off . Just 11 seconds later the Eagles again put the heat on the Rockets in their own end and Ryan Rose lit the lamp with helpers from Trent VanderMolen and Jonker. With 3:41 left in the first Kersaan notched his second goal of the game on a feed from DeCorte making it 4-1 in favor of the visitors. The Rockets seemed to settle down a little bit in the second and get a handle on defending the Eagles offense. A penalty on Hudsonville with 1:13 remaining gave the Rockets some life, but a short-handed flurry of shots by the Eagles quickly stifled any momentum Puffer may have found and the period ended 4-1. With 46 seconds remaining in the man-advantage for Reeths-Puffer to start the third, Hudsonville brought pressure on the forecheck and Jaron Grzegorczyk forced a turnover behind the net, flipped the puck to Alex Host in front of the net who knocked it down and sent it into the top corner for the final goal of the night. Pete Herman was solid in net again for Hudsonville, stopping 21 of 22 attempts. Hudsonville faces Kenowa Hills in a crucial Tier 2 match-up on Friday night at Georgetown Ice Center while the Rockets host Rockford on Friday at Lakeshore.