The County Press

Hockey teams hit the ice tonight



Lapeer’s Jordan Moore, shown here last year against Port Huron, will be back for the Lightning this season. Photo by Joe Oster

Lapeer’s Jordan Moore, shown here last year against Port Huron, will be back for the Lightning this season. Photo by Joe Oster

LAPEER — The Lapeer hockey team will open its season tonight and the game will mark the start of the inaugural season for its opponent, the Eastern Thumb Area Legion hockey team.

Thumb Legion, which includes players from Deckerville, Cros-Lex, Elkton- Pigeon-Bay Port, Marlette, Sandusky and Ubly, is coached by Larry Camp. They are a young team, boasting only four seniors on the 22-man roster with Deckerville’s Sean Euguster, EPBP’s Preston Warren, Marlette’s Chad Bower and Sandusky’s Jarod Coon. The roster is also book-ended with six freshmen, including Theron Harris as the squad’s lone Ubly player.

Ben Meister, sophomore, is expected to make his firstever start in net for Lapeer, after the Lightning graduated Tyler Weber, last year’s starting goalie. Meister will be backed up by Dawson Goodwin, a freshman, who is Weber’s younger brother. Lapeer coach Steve Seres has stated his confidence in his depth at goaltender heading into the season.

The Alliance’s Jonny Kippe, shown here last season, will look to contribute for the Alliance once again this season. Photo by Kylee Richardson

The Alliance’s Jonny Kippe, shown here last season, will look to contribute for the Alliance once again this season. Photo by Kylee Richardson

Elsewhere on the ice, the Lightning will be led by the senior core of Ben Rogers, Brayden Regling, Jordan Moore and Nate Seres, Steve’s son. Rogers, Regling and Nate are all four-year varsity players, and Moore led last season’s squad in scoring. Seres and Lapeer will also look to Bailey Bostick-Tullius to find the net and ignite the offense. Jakob Sutherby is expected to fortify the defensive unit. Mikey Mazola, an all-around versatile glueguy, is expected to leave his imprint on the ice. Kaden Appleton, a ‘highly-skilled’ freshman, according to Seres, is also set to make his career debut in tonight’s season-opener.

The puck will drop between Lapeer and Thumb Legion at 7:15 p.m. at Polar Palace Ice Arena. The Lightning continue their opening week at home on Friday against Oxford/Avondale at 7 p.m. — J.O.

ALLIANCE

The Alliance (LakeVille, Almont, Goodrich, Imlay City, North Branch) will open up the regular season on the road tonight as it travels to Iceland Arena to face Swartz Creek/Clio/ Flushing.

After losing just four players to graduation following last season and returning 13 veteran players this year, the Alliance could prove to be a force to be reckoned with on the ice. The Alliance appear to be picking up right where it left off after defeating Oxford Avondale 8-0 on Saturday in a preseason scrimmage.

Over the last two seasons, the Alliance has finished second in the Mid-Michigan Hockey Association, only fueling the Alliance’s drive for success for this season.

The Alliance and SCF opened the season against each other last year with the Alliance taking an 8-1 win. The two teams faced each other two other times, both going in favor of the Alliance with 9-3 and 7-5 final scores.

Returning player Johnny Labombard will look to lead on the ice this season, as well as Thomas Manko, Jacob Young, Jakob Krutz, Matt Brauer, Ryan Ruchlewski, Jonny Kippe and Hunter Ratliff.

The Alliance is also returning two seasoned goalies in Max Hubbell and Will Garbutt. Newcomers CJ Harris, Dillon McDowell, Ian Swanger and Harrison Rich will also be looking to make an impact in their first regularseason game with the team.

The puck drops tonight at 6 p.m. at Iceland Arena. — K.R.