After defeating Wayne State 2-1 on Friday night, Lake Superior State recorded a series sweep of the Warriors with a 6-3 victory on Saturday.
But it came at a price. The Lakers lost freshman Adam Nightingale near the halfway mark of the first period when he slammed hard into the left side of the Wayne State net.
“Adam is out four to six weeks with a broken hand,” Lake Superior coach Scott Borek said.
The Lakers were able to grab a 1-0 lead with 10 seconds remaining in the first, when sophomore Aaron Davis scored a power-play goal from right out front.
For a while, the teams went back and forth and the Warriors were able to tie the game at one with a goal from Dustin Kingston at the 2:36 mark of the second.
Lake State responded not long after when Chris McNamara netted his second goal of the season while the Lakers were shorthanded.
The 2-1 lead didn’t last as the Warriors came back with an even-strength goal from Chris Vail.
With less than three minutes remaining in the second period, Jason Nightingale was finally able to give the Lakers the lead they were looking for. Nightingale recorded his fourth goal of the season, shorthanded and unassisted.
The Lakers scored three more prior the halfway point of the third. Ryan Vince tacked on a power-play goal, while Davis added his second of the night. Junior Yevgeniy Dubravin also scored for the Lakers.
Maxim Starchenko scored for the Warriors with less than a minute remaining in the game to make the final score 6-3.
“It was a typical Lake State game. They’re a big, physical, strong team, and they go to the net hard,” Wayne State coach Bill Wilkinson said.
“Lake State is a good forchecking team and they really take you off the puck if you don’t get it out fast enough. A lot of times we were slow and that created turnovers.”
Both teams played an extremely physical game, which led to a lot of penalties.
“I thought the roughness was terrible. They clearly came out with a chippiness that made a bad hockey game,” Borek said.
“We acted poorly and got involved in it, but I was really disappointed with the way they came out and decided to play the game.”
Not only do the Lakers have to play without Adam Nightingale, but without first-line center Mike Vigilante, who is day-to-day with a shoulder injury.
“One thing I thought would be a weakness for us, but has turned out to be a strength is our depth,” Borek said. “We had a good play by Kyle Anderson tonight and a very good play by Chad Dahlen, so we showed a little bit of depth. We’ll need it now with Vigilante and Nightingale out.”
The Lakers will spend next weekend on the road at New Hampshire and Providence.
Last season, the Lakers dropped a two-game home series to UNH by scores of 4-3 and 5-3.
Wayne State will travel to Notre Dame on Tuesday before playing a two-game home series against Canisius on Oct. 20 and 21.
“Our goal is to make the playoffs in the [CHA], and maybe to win our league,” Wilkinson said. “Overall, we’d like to have a successful season with more wins than losses.”
