The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Chelsea takes on rival Dexter
By Don Richter, Sports Editor
PUBLISHED: January 25, 2007
It was intense.
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It was physical.
It was hard-hitting.
It was Chelsea versus Dexter.
Last Saturday, in front of a packed and boisterous crowd at Veterans Arena, the Bulldogs fell to their county rivals 5-1.
Chelsea (10-5-1, 2-2-1 Southeastern Conference) and the Dreadnaughts (12-2-1, 5-0 SEC) both entered the contest ranked No. 10 in the state's Division III poll. Dexter took advantage of numerous Bulldog errors to skate away with the victory.
"The bottom line is we just kept making mistakes," said Chelsea coach Don Wright. "When we make mistakes, the puck seems to go into our net. When you make mistakes in the neutral zone or in your own end, it's a killer."
Despite out shooting the Dreadnaughts 9-5 to begin the game, the first period ended in a scoreless tie.
In the second period, Zach Stanislovaitis scored off an assist from Alex Erber giving Dexter a 1-0 lead at the 2:49 mark of the frame.
Chelsea fought back, however, forcing a power play. Dreadnaught Alex Johnston stole the puck and scored shorthanded on a breakaway at 12:12 of the second period for a 2-0 Dexter advantage
Less than a minute later, with the Bulldogs again on the power play, Stanislovaitis scored a shorthanded goal for the Dreadnaughts increasing their lead to 3-0.
"We gave up two shorthanded goals," Wright said. "We had an opportunity to tie the game and we turn the puck over and we're down 3-0."
In the third period, Nick Field scored a power play goal for Dexter at the 3:20 mark of the stanza.
Two minutes later, Zach Lucas scored on the power play, giving the Dreadnaughts a 5-0 lead.
At 9:42 of the third period, Chelsea junior forward Garrett Nickels scored off an assist from senior forward Howdy Holmes for the night's final margin.
The Bulldogs out-shot Dexter 30-15 for the contest.
Despite the tough loss, Wright remained positive.
"We're doing a lot of things right," he said. "We controlled the puck. One game doesn't make or break your season by any means."
Wright said his team needed to play smarter.
"We take a penalty or turn the puck over," he said. "We need to hold teams to two goals of less. We need to play smarter with the puck. We play a lot of tough teams. It's just one game. We need to prevent mistakes. That will make a big difference.
"But we'll learn from this."
It doesn't get any easier for the Bulldogs.
Chelsea next hosts state Division II No. 10-ranked Davison Friday at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs host Muskegon Reeths-Puffer at 7 p.m.
On Wednesday, Chelsea travels to state Division III No. 4-ranked Pontiac Notre Dame Prep for a contest at 6:45 p.m.
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