Livonia Stevenson hockey kills nine penalties in win against Trenton

Andrew Vailliencourt
Hometownlife.com
Livonia Stevenson's Dominic Glenn skates up the ice against Trenton in the MIHL/KLAA Showcase.

Over the years, Livonia Stevenson and Trenton have developed quite a rivalry in hockey after repeated meetings in the Division 2 state playoffs.

It was the case again last year, with Trenton knocking the Spartans out in the state quarterfinals in a one goal game.

On Saturday, the two squads met again in the MIHL/KLAA Showcase at Eddie Edgar Ice Arena in Livonia and played to another one goal game, this time, however, it was Stevenson that came out of top with a 2-1 victory.

It was a physical contest with a combined 14 penalties between the two teams — nine of them on the Spartans.

Stevenson's defense was up to the challenge though, shutting down the Trojans offense completely on the power play. 

"We had too many penalties, but give Trenton credit for putting us in those positions," Livonia Stevenson coach David Mitchell said. "We try to emulate what Trenton does in terms of their community based hockey program. They're so well coached, we have so much respect for them. We gave them too many power-play chances, we have to clean up our discipline and we'll work on it. It's nice to get out of here with a W."

The Spartans will need to play cleaner hockey should the two programs meet again in the postseason. Coming into Saturday, Stevenson was ranked No. 2 in Division 2 and Trenton was ranked No. 4.

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Livonia Stevenson's Kyle Robertson possess the puck against Trenton in the MIHL/KLAA Showcase.

Stevenson got the scoring started at the 9:26 mark in the first period. Junior Brendan Heard skated up the left side in a two-on-one situation and passed it to junior Ethan Waldo who fired it into the net for the score.

Down one, Trenton had an opportunity to tie the game up when it went on a 5-on-3 power play near the end of the period. The Spartans defense came up big to keep it 1-0 after one period.

More penalties marked the beginning of the second period. The teams played 4-on-4 before Stevenson received its own chance on a 5-on-3 several minutes later. 

Trenton held off Stevenson to gain momentum.

Following a Stevenson turnover in its own zone, the Trojans went on the attack. Junior Bradley Nemeth took advantage of the Spartan miscue and fired it back goaltender Brenden Stroble. It was Stroble's only blemish of the night.

"I felt really confident in our team," Stroble said. "We did really well on the penalty kill, we blocked shots, cleared it, I made sure I wasn't screened, it was really good. ... It takes a lot of weight off my shoulders knowing that I can trust (my defense) and they are there to clear it out if I let up a bad rebound."

Heading to the third in a tie game, the contest got even more physical. Just over two minutes into the period, Stevenson junior Ian Kimble was able to poke a loose puck into the net despite a scrum of players in front of the goal. 

Livonia Stevenson's Ryan Teets skates against Trenton in the MIHL/KLAA Showcase.

The win was there for the taking, but the Spartans didn't make it easy. 

In the final 10 minutes of the game, they took three consecutive penalties, giving Trenton chance after chance to send the game to overtime. The defense stepped up once again to hold off the Trojans. 

"Our defense was stellar today," Mitchell said. "Nick Justice and Mark Stefanick, Ayden Adamic and those guys on the back end. Brenden Stroble has been outstanding. To come in this year, not really knowing what our goal-tending would be, we didn't have anyone coming back, Stroble has — I'd say exceeded expectations — but we expect a lot of him and he expects a lot of himself, I'm happy for him and very proud of him."

Contact reporter Andrew Vailliencourt at availlienc@hometownlife.com or 810-923-0659. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewVcourt. Send game results and stats to Liv-Sports@hometownlife.com.