It was a frustrating first half of the season for the Grand Valley State University men’s hockey team, but the Lakers redeemed themselves over the weekend. The team won 9-2 against the University of Minnesota last night after taking out their frustrations out on the Marist College Red Foxes Friday.

The Lakers (11-9-0) scored 11 goals in the final two periods of play in the 13-0 destruction of Marist (7-11-1). The Red Foxes came in with a few impressive wins in the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Division II, but they traveled to Michigan severely shorthanded due to injuries and could not reamin competitive.

“I don’t think we really expected to win like that,” said sophomore Jeremy Christopher, who had two goals in the game. “It’s hard because we want to get excited when guys get goals, but we also want to show some class when we put up big numbers like that. But you can’t feel bad for a team like that. You have to keep the pedal down and win games you’re supposed to win.”

Multiple Lakers – all defensemen – notched their first goals of the season. Shane McCusker and Bobby Penrod scored their first and second goals as members of GVSU hockey, and Jake Ochsner also tallied the his first of the season, fourth of his career.

Penrod said his first goal as a Laker is something he will not soon forget.

“It felt great,” he said. “Just to get my first goal playing in the ACHA here and playing for the Lakers was amazing. I know it’s a blowout and it was the 10th goal, but it was more of a morale booster just to get out there and finally get one in.”

GVSU took advantage of eight power-play opportunities, scoring four times. It was the fifth-straight game in which GVSU had at least one power-play goal. The team struggled mightily with the man advantage early on, but production has turned around over the last half-dozen games.

“We had good puck movement, and we showed some new creativity,” said GVSU head coach Mike Forbes. “Often we don’t have success on the power play because the puck moves and we don’t. But today we moved as well, and we created a lot of opportunities because of that.”

As the power play has improved, so have the Lakers. Since the unit has started to produce in the last five games, the Lakers have gone 4-1.

“We’ve got to continue to work on the power play. It’s a very, very important thing,” Forbes said. “It keeps teams honest that play against you. If you get into a chippy game against a rough opponent, if you can score power-play goals, it certainly keeps that physical play at bay.”

The Lakers will look ahead to a crucial part of the season when they play two games in each of the upcoming five weeks. All 10 games are against ACHA Division II opponents, and these tests will give the Lakers a sense of their standing as they approach the national tournament.

The team will split a home-and-home series against Central Michigan University this weekend, playing at Georgetown Ice Arena at 9 p.m. on Friday before traveling to Mount Pleasant for a 4 p.m. puck-drop the following afternoon.

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