Northmen hockey takes first BNC loss visiting TC Central
TRAVERSE CITY — The first 17 minuets on the ice really couldn’t have gone any worse for the Petoskey hockey team Wednesday night in Traverse City.
Visiting Traverse City Central in their first road game of the season, the Northmen found themselves down 5-0 after the opening period.
They just needed to settle in and settle down. And they did, though it still came with a 6-0 loss to the rival Trojans on the night.
After that opening period, Petoskey head coach Mike McKillip wanted his guys to just erase it from their minds.
“I told them to pay no attention to the scoreboard, come out for second period with the 0-0 mentality and just win the next period,” said McKillip. “One step at a time.”
The Northmen did just that, holding the Trojans to just one other goal over the final two periods of play.
A big part of that came in freshman Nicklas Timm standing out in goal over the next couple of periods.
“He was defiantly huge factor on giving us momentum and confidence for the last two periods once we settled in,” said McKillip. “Also, I thought some guys that haven’t seen much playing time before tonight, stepped up and filled in well when others weren’t or just need rest.”
It’s been a tough start to the season for Petoskey, who now drops to 0-2 while breaking in a young lineup that includes 13 freshmen or sophomores on the roster, including Timm in perhaps the most key position.
The game came as Central’s fourth of the season, as they picked up a 13-0 victory over Gaylord to open the year, then a pair of ties against East Grand Rapids and Northville last week.
Despite the end result on the scoreboard, McKillip sees some momentum to take out of the final two periods against a strong Trojan team.
“Overall, I was happy with the last two periods and also saw a lot of good growth from some guys tonight, which is awesome to see,” he added. “That’s a very good opponent in a tough road environment. (TC Central coach) Chris Givens has been doing this a while. He comes well prepared and also expects the same from his players as soon as that first puck is dropped. They came ready to play from the start.”
Petoskey will get back to the ice this weekend with a hosted tournament at the Petoskey Ice Arena on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 2-3.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Northmen hockey takes first BNC loss visiting TC Central
