Anchor Bay Hockey wins regional championship, takes on Detroit Catholic Central in state quarterfinals

 

Anchor Bay Hockey has won their first regional championship since 2016 after defeating Chippewa Valley United 5-2 on Wednesday.

Chippewa Valley United, a combined team of players from both Dakota and Chippewa Valley High Schools, has been firing on all cylinders lately as they went into the game not only with a 10 game win streak, but already defeating the Tars twice this season.

The game started out fast as Chippewa Valley United took a quick 1-0 lead after a breakaway goal close to a minute into the game. 

But Anchor Bay answered right back seconds later when senior Aidan French took the puck to the corner and passed to senior Mark Bonnay in the slot who was able to put the puck in the net.

But hold on, Chippewa Valley United decided they weren’t done right there. Working the puck behind the net, and a pass to the slot for a one-timer that gave CVU a 2-1 lead, shortly after the Tars evened the score.

Tars senior goaltender David Girling was able to stop some close scoring chances as CVU started the game fast and with pressure.

About five minutes into the second period, senior Aidan French was able to finish a puck that was floating around the slot, once again evening the score. The goal occurred on the power play after CVUs Karson Schriner took a minor penalty.

A few minutes later, Tars senior Brett Trevino with a wrist shot from the blue line that found the back of the net, to put the Tars up 3-2.

Just over 11:00 to go in the third period, Tars senior Mark Bonnay split the CVU defensemen with a nice move and finished with a wrist shot that found the top corner, behind CVU goaltender Joshua Sosnowski.

The Tars were able to tuck the game away with an empty net goal by sophomore Kaden Leigh, after he cleared the puck off of the boards from his own end, and it turned into goal number 5 for the Tars.

David Girling, who has committed to Northwood University, stopped 35 of 37 shots against him to help the Tars out.

Senior, and also a Northwood commit, Aidan French, finished with a goal and an assist. Mark Bonnay had two goals, Brett Trevino and Kaden Leigh one.

The Tars will play the Detroit Catholic Central Shamrocks on Saturday at 6:00pm for the MHSAA quarterfinals. Catholic Central is the top team in the state currently, holding a 26-1 record.