DETROIT, Mich. - Following a rainy day on Friday, December 10th to open the annual Clark Park showdown in Detroit for the ACHA Men's DIII team, the boys won their opening game 4-1 against Trine University. Then, after being moved to the Redford Ice Arena on Saturday, the team fell to Penn State-Behrand 6-4. Moving to the Championship game on Sunday, December 12th, they fell to Trine 3-2 who sought revenge after the Blue Devils beat them earlier that tournament.
The first game with swimmingly, as the team played in not ideal conditions as the rain came down on Friday night. However, the Blue Devils opened scoring in the first period to go up 1-0 despite the weather from the stick of Conor Burnette. Then again in the second, Dillon Morello this time was the lone goal scorer, going up 2-0. In the third, Jason Drummey found the back of th net with 12 minutes ticked off the clock to go up 3-0. However, Trine found a way past the LTU defense and got on the board with their lone goal of the game. Closing the Blue Devils in scoring was the work of Jorai Bart, who scored with 10 second left of the game. Owen Przybylo got the win with 25 saves.
On Saturday, inside the Redford Ice Arena, the game went differently for the Blue Devils versus the Penn State-Behrand team. PSU-B scored two quick goals in the first period, only to be answered by a lone goal from Bart with nine minutes remaining in the first. The second saw the Blue Devil catch right back up with a goal from Noah Peters, who scored late in the period. Then, the Blue Devils grabbed their first lead of the game from the stick of Blayne Young. When the third, period came around, PSU-B turned on the gas and score two goals in eight minutes, going up 4-3. Then, LTU added their own with Jake Van Fleet grabbing a goal with an assist from Bart. However, Penn State went on to score two goals in the final two minutes to secure their win of 6-4.
The final game saw a rematch of the first game of the tournament between Trine and LTU. In the first period, the scoring was controlled by Lawrence Tech, with Collin Clark grabbing a goal. then with five seconds remaining in the first, Dylan Smith grabbed one to take the lead 2-0. The tables turned come the second period with the Thunder tying up the game with two lone goals. Then, in the third period, after a ten minute stalemate, the Thunder grabbed another goal. While the Blue Devils attempted to tie up the game, they failed, losing the tournament and Trine taking the win for Clark Park.
Up next, the Blue Devils face Adrian College (Mich.) for a two game series, with the first game occurring on January 17th at home and the second occurring on January 18th.
