SWMHSHL Tourney: Eagles 3 Mattawan 2

The Kalamazoo Eagles battled hard tonight against league rival Mattawan and earned a 3-2 victory in overtime. Mattawan outplayed the Eagles in every aspect of the game except one. Scoring Goals. The Wildcats outshot Kalamazoo 45 to 18, but Eagles goaltender Joey Ballmer earned the #1 star in this game. The two goals he allowed were both powerplay goals.

Mattawan got on the scoreboard first when Shawn Jones fired home a rebound past Ballmer. Nate McCorry and Josh Davidson were credited with the assists. The Eagles then took the lead with two second period goals. Scotty Sulka ripped a slap shot off the glove of Wildcat goalie Derek Straub for their first goal. And Kyle Pavlack's slapper from almost the identical location put the Eagles on top.

The third period was filled with penalties and emotion after Mattawan's Matt Latora tied the game at the 12:25 mark. A total of 38 penalty minutes amassed during the final 12 minutes of this contest as both teams tried to put the other away. The most critical calls occurred with only :49 seconds remaining in the 3rd. Dylan Dault (Mattawan's grittiest defender) and Kyle Pavlack (Eagles defender) were both given 2 and 10 penalties for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct. The entire overtime was played with these key players in the box.

Eagles forward, Bobby Miller ended the game with an unassisted goal at the 1:27 mark of overtime. Miller, who had fallen into Coach Brown's doghouse late in the 3rd period, intercepted a Mattawan clearing attempt and beat Straub on the short side for the winner. It was Miller's only shift of the overtime period!

The Eagles advance to the SWMHSHL Semi Finals on Saturday. They will face Portage Central at 7:00pm.