Eagles off to strong start after 4-3 win at Brighton

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BRIGHTON — Sure, Wednesday’s 4-3 win over Brighton was the second in a row for Hartland, including a win at the end of last season, but this one meant more to Eagles coach Rick Gadwa.

“This is the first game of a new season,” he explained, “and last year was the second game in a row after they won a championship. So maybe there weren’t as many logs in the fire.”

The Eagles certainly turned up the heat early, getting a pair of goals in the first 3:37 and never trailing.

Here’s the archived broadcast

Meanwhile, Brighton, a team notorious for slow starts in recent years, came out looking a half-step behind in the first period. The Bulldogs’ struggles were no more apparent than during a power play that lasted seven minutes and saw very few shots.

“We didn’t do anything on that,” Brighton coach Paul Moggach said.

It was unusual in that a major penalty was called on Hartland’s Jake Behnke, and the second he got out of the box Alex Krause was call for roughing.

But the Eagles killed both Brighton power plays and controlled play for much of that stretch, a performance that gave Hartland a big lift.

“A team can get a lot of momentum from a penalty kill, and to see us kill sevn minutes in a row was huge,” Gadwa said. “It’s huge for all the guys on the bench. If they (score a goal) and still have more power-play time, and get another one off momentum, that hurts.”

Luke Cowan, a senior in his first season on the Eagles varsity squad, was impressed.

That was something else,” he said. “I’ve neer been through that  before. But we answered well, and that was a great 7-minute kill.”

Cowan had already done his part to stake Hartland to a 2-0 lead early, assisting on a Joe Ullstrom goal just 32 seconds into the game and scoring himself just under three minutes later.

“(Josh) Albring jumped in there, too,” Gadwa said, “and that’s three new guys all produced on the scoresheet and off, the way they moved their feet and controlled the game play out there. I was impressed with all of those guys.”

Brighton got on the board late in the second. Cowan turned the puck over to Lee Pietila at the Brighton blue line, and Pietila skated in for a shorthanded unassisted goal. A little over a minute and a half later, Jay Keranen tied the game, and it was 2-2 going into the third period.

But the Eagles ran away early in the third, getting a goal by Nick Savage 1:11 into the period and Albring’s goal a short time later.

Brighton got to within one on Matt Kahra’s goal with 4:04 left, but the Eagles held fast and celebrated the victory.

“We didn’t score a 5-on-5 goal until there w ere four minutes left to play,” Moggach said. “It’s clear to me we need to do better 5-on-5 and compete better and be more prepared to start the periods.”

It was the first of 25 games for both teams this season. The Eagles play host to Pinckney in their home opener on Monday, while Brighton travels to Plymouth to take on Detroit Catholic Central.

“The first game is important, win or lose, because you’ve got a read for what you’ve got,” Moggach said. “We’ve got lessons we’ll take away from this. They’ve got lessons they’ll take away from this. They’ve got a big one under their belt. I lnow they love to beat us, and I don’t blame them. Give them credit. They were the better team tonight.”

And, if all goes well, they’ll meet in three months for the KLAA title.

“Hopefully,” Cowan said. “They’re a good team. It was fun.”

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