Foley Sweeps Back-to-Back Series With Grand Blanc

Foley United’s 10 – 2 victory over Grand Blanc Friday night at Lindell Arena had a number of firsts for Foley this season.

It was the first game of the second half of the regular season, the 13th game over all. Foley got the second half of the season off on the right foot with a win.

It was the first game of the season where a Foley goaltender got an assist on a goal. The goalie was Alex Corrado. Corrado had another first in the game for the season: a minor penalty. It was for roughing. If you’re an opposing player and you get too close to Alex, he’ll let you know.

The game also had the first short-handed goal of the season for Foley. The team liked getting the ‘shortie’ so much, they scored two more ‘shorties’ in the game for a total of three short handed goals.

It was the first and only back-to-back series for Foley this season. Foley took the first game from Grand Blanc on their home ice at Crystal Fieldhouse by a 4 – 1 score last Saturday. And unlike that prior game that was a defensive battle for two periods, Foley dominated this game from the puck drop.

Foley’s Bobby Kulka scored first at 12:31 in the opening period, assisted by Mitchel Tremberth. It was Tremberth’s first assist of the season.

A little over a minute later, Peter Murphy made it 2 – 0 for Foley. Collin Buchanan and Thomas Beil got the helpers.

Grand Blanc cut that lead mid-period with a goal by Gabe Franzen. At 2 – 1 for Foley, it began to look like a tight game. But, that tension eased as Foley responded with a goal by Tyler Dempsey at 5:19 of the first period. This would stand as the game winning goal. Carter Penn assisted. The first period ended with a Foley 3 – 1 lead.

The second period took on a whole different flavor. The first period went quickly with few whistles and no penalties for either team. The second period took much longer to play. That was due to a parade of players to the penalty box, and an explosion of scoring by Foley.

Foley got nailed with six minor penalties, starting with Corrado’s minor penalty. Grand Blanc had only one minor in the period. Grand Blanc was only able to take advantage of one of Foley’s penalties for a goal. Foley dodged a disaster on the other five penalties.

“We took a lot of dumb penalties,” remarked Foley Head Coach Dave Williamson. “We can’t take those penalties in the next game… We don’t want to play short-handed the whole game like that. So, we need to get disciplined real quick.”

The second period also saw an explosion of Foley scoring.

Kulka scored his second goal of the game a little over a minute into the second period, making it 4 – 1. Peter Stevens assisted. Dempsey made it 5 – 1 at 14:14 in the period. It was his second goal, assisted by Ryan Beckmon. Second later, at 13:47, Beckmon made it 6 – 1 for Foley. Tremberth assisted, his second of the game and the season, and Dempsey got the second assist.

The next goal was a Grand Blanc power play tally scored at 9:43, unassisted by Ben Johnson. The Foley lead was trimmed to 6 – 2.

Foley’s Dempsey responded seconds later with his third goal of the game for a hat-trick. It was Foley’s first short-handed goal of the season. Beil assisted, and Corrado – the Foley Goalie – assisted. That was another first – the first assist by a goalie this season for Foley.

That closed out scoring in the second period. Foley enjoyed a wide 7 – 2 lead.

The third period showcased Foley’s special teams.

Penalties died down to two per side. The next goal wasn’t scored until 10:16 in the period on the power-play, Peter Stevens scored his fourth goal of the season, and Nick Alter and Bobby Kulka assisted. It was Alter’s first assist of the season. At 8- 2 Foley had to start thinking about a mercy victory. Foley needed just two more unanswered goals to end the game early.

At 5:47 in the third period, Foley was hit with a minor penalty for elbowing. This set-up Foley’s special teams with an opportunity to close-out the game.

With 4:08 left in the period, Stevens broke away to score Foley’s second short-handed goal of the game, unassisted. At 9 – 2, Foley was one goal away from ending the game. That last goal came quickly.

From the center ice face-off after the ninth goal, Tremberth and Brendan Carnaghi passed the puck up to Adam Mohr who was in the clear. Mohr popped the puck in for Foley’s game ending tenth goal just seven seconds after the ninth goal. Mohr’s goal was also a ‘shortie.’

At 10 – 2 for Foley, the game ended under high school’s mercy rule. It was Foley’s second mercy win of the season.

Foley’s Corrado was in net and faced 24 shots. This was Corrado’s fifth win of the season out of the six games he played. Seth Hiles was in net for Grand Blanc and saw 37 Foley shots come his way.

Coach Williamson had a number of call-outs for the game: “Dempsey had (three goals) tonight. Definitely the player of the game. Peter Stevens had two… Alex (Corrado) was in goal. I thought he played a real strong second half. Dempsey’s a nice little spark plug. His game has evolved so much more than last year. He’s just a real good player… He’s a leader now. He’s plays on that top line with Beckmon and Penn. They compliment each other well.

“Bobby Kuilka – he’s a beast out there. He’s got a nice little snapper, and when it’s on net, you know, it’s got eyeballs. Peter Stevens works hard all the time. It’s nice to see him get rewarded. Nick Alter – it will be nice to see him get his first high school goal.” (Note: Alter got his first assist in the game.) “It will come. He works hard, a realm grinder. We don’t talk about Nick a lot. He goes to all those dirty areas. Does all those things that don’t show-up on the scoresheet. He just a real good team player.

“Tom Biel played a really good game. Collin Buchanan always does a really nice job. Dylan (Astrauckas) was solid back there. Mitchel (Tremberth), we can always count on Mitchell. Mitchell is very good. He

always plays a solid game, a quiet game. (Brandan) Caranghi started to jump up into the play a lot tonight.”

Williamson’s final thought: “I’ll take the ‘W’ (win). We got to bring our A game tomorrow.”

Foley faces-off against West Bloomfield Saturday afternoon at Lindell Arena. It is Military Appreciation Day for the Foley faithful. The Foley United team will be wearing special camouflage jerseys for the game. The team will also be raising funds for a military charity. More on this tomorrow.