CMU DIII hockey wins 19th straight against Calvin College
100 — That’s the number of total points junior forward Dalton Sutherland achieved after a 9-1 win for the No. 2 Central Michigan University Division III hockey team against Calvin College Friday night at Eagles Ice Center.
Sutherland is ranked at the top of the American Collegiate Hockey Association leaderboard in total points produced so far this season with this performance in hand (47 goals, 55 assists).
Head Coach James Cadzow said he’s proud to be Dalton’s coach and he hopes to see him continue what he’s doing as the season progresses.
“He absolutely deserves it,” he said. “I know that once the milestone of 100 came into view, he was getting a little nervous about it, but he came through and did it. I couldn’t be happier.”
And Sutherland knew he had to get to triple digits in the game, he said.
“I saw (my total points) a couple days ago and it’s been on my mind ever since,” Sutherland said. “It got in my head that I had to score, so Allgaier, Tyrer and I said we have to get this out quick. And even before the hundredth point Tyrer looked at me and said ‘we’re getting it right here’.”
For the Chippewas, this marks their 29th win of the season (29-4, 16-4 in Michigan Collegiate Hockey Association) and 19th straight victory.
Going into the game, Calvin had not won yet this season and they remain winless at 0-17 (0-14 in MCHC).
CMU senior forward Ryan Tyrer scored first, giving the Chippewas a 1-0 lead with a little more than four minutes into the opening period. This would be the only goal scored in the first period of play.
Play would pick up in the second as Chippewa sophomore defensemen Jason Pischke would slip one by Calvin, earning him his 12th of the season as 17:58 ticked by.
Sutherland backed him up when he scored his 46th and 47th goals of the season with just over five minutes left and 1:35 remaining in the middle period.
As for the third, CMU continued to do what they do best: score goals.
Tyrer, suspended tomorrow for a penalty in this game, scored his 25th of the season as 16:36 went by.
Graduate forward Nathan Allgaier followed him with his 34th of the season and freshman forward Michael Croff scooped his first of the night and third of the season at the 14:37 mark.
Senior Forward James Gleason snagged his 22nd of the season with 11:23 left and Allgaier nabbed his second of the night with just over 30 seconds left, giving him his 35th on the year.
Calvin forward Jakob Panzer scored the only goal for Calvin College and it came on the final period with 9:11 left.
Despite the onslaught of offensive production, CMU found itself playing “undisciplined” in the final period of the game, Cadzow said.
“With the way hockey is played, it’s always hard to stay disciplined,” he said. “You never quite know exactly what was said, so I give the players a little latitude, but it will always be frustrating to see the better players commit dumb penalties. It was about ‘me, me, me’ and come playoff time we have to be better.”
Shot selection will also have to improve according to Cadzow.
“We played okay, but we had 58 shots, we were missing the net too often and we were getting shots blocked too often,” he said. “Those are the things we’re communicating to each other and improving at, but unfortunately we just don’t see it enough sometimes.”
