By David Dell
PORT HURON- After getting shellacked two weeks ago, when the Prowlers hammered the Motor City Rockers by a combined score of 17-7, the two teams played a much more defensive game Friday night before 1,701 excited fans.
Port Huron put the first marker up at 6:10 of the opening frame when Matt Graham (24th of the season) redirected Dan Chartrand’s centering feed from the left wing. The puck had just enough momentum to roll through Ricardo Gonzales’ pads and dribble across the goal line. It was only the Prowlers’ second shot of the game and they would go on to pound Gonzales with another dozen plus but nothing recorded in the scorebook. Fraser managed eight scoring attempts.
The middle stanza was marked by a handful of minor infractions, with Ryan Rotundi specifically drawing only a Roughing call when he ripped Tucker Scantlebury’s helmet off while in the process of tackling him in front of the Motor City goal. Port Huron put another 15 shots on goal while Fraser managed just a third as many.
Just 49 seconds into the final period, TJ Sneath picked up a Nick Gullo rebound off Reid Cooper’s pad and stuck it in the goal. Fraser was on the end of a carry over Roughing minor assessed to Adam Heinzl from the second period. Port Huron got 14 more shots on goal while Fraser barely tested Cooper with just five for the 20 minutes. At the end of regulation, the game was knotted at 1-1.
The Prowlers put four shots on goal in the overtime period playing 3 on 3 hockey while Fraser was held to one and the game went to the shootout.
Captain Austin Fetterly uncharacteristically missed on his first attempt, while Reggie Millette (19th of the year beat Gonzales with an easy backhand flip of the disk over his blocker shoulder. All three Rockers were stoned by Cooper to give Port Huron 2 of 3 points for the night.
The Motor City Rockers will host the Prowlers Saturday night in the final regular season game for both teams, at Big Boy Arena in Fraser.
The Prowlers play in the Empire Division of the Federal Prospects Hockey League, now in its’ 15th year.
