Lakers Battle Hard But Fall To Ike

A pair of goals from Eisenhower senior, Jake VanSlembrock, was enough to propel the Eagles past host St. Clair Shores Unified, 2-0, Saturday night at .

VanSlembrock's goals came at the 1:31 mark of the second period, and the 7:13 mark of the closing period play.

The effort, despite the loss, was an valiant one for a Lakers squad decimated by injuries this season.

Couple this with the youth and inexperience of many players on the roster, and you have a team that could've folded under the pressure of playing back-to-back games against the top two teams in the Macomb Area Conference Red - Dakota High Thursday night and Ike Saturday.

"I think my guys battled and executed our game plan the best they could," Shores coach, Frank DiCristofaro said. "We ran two lines and four 'D", but we just got a little tired I think. But Eisenhower is a great team, there's no getting away from that. But, I think our guys played a great game."

DiCristofaro and his staff decided to switch up strategy against the Eagles. A trapping style and a new-look forecheck was something coaches thought might work against the division's top squad. It did.

"We had a little pow-wow right before game time, and we had done some scouting on Eisenhower and we figured if we used this forecheck it might work for us," the coach said. "It did. It worked for us the whole game."

The system was so successful, against a very good squad, that it might be something the squad displays against future opponents.

"I think all the guys bought into it," DiCristofaro said, referring to the trap. "I think we're coming together, but it takes a while to do that. These guys are really used to being undisciplined out there, and we still got some of that going on, but we're trying to correct that."

The trapping style the Lakers implemented Saturday night is highly dependent on discipline on the ice, and it definitely caught the Eagles by surprise and really prevented them from ever getting into rhythm offensively.

If it wasn't for the outstanding play of Ike goalie, Erik Rodak, the outcome might have been different.

"They've got a lot of seniors, they're big, and they're good team," DiCristofaro said. "But I'm proud of my guys tonight. We battled."

The loss drops the Lakers to 2-4 in the division, while Ike moves to 6-1 in the Red. The Lakers' next game is Feb. 2 against Utica High at home.