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Houghton 4, Flint Powers Catholic 1: Chargers fall in Division 3 hockey semifinals

By Aaron McMann, 03/14/15, 2:15PM EDT

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First period play has been key to Flint Powers Catholic’s season, and on Friday things got turned upside down.

The Chargers, having outscored opponents 44-8 in the first, fell behind 3-0 and were never able to dig out of the hole, losing 4-1 to Houghton in the Division 3 hockey semifinals Friday, March 13, at Compuware Arena.

“Honestly this was the first bad one we’ve had all year,” Powers Catholic coach Travis Perry said. “For whatever reason, we came out flat today. Usually our bad period is the second period, that’s the on I’m always worried about, but giving up two goals in the final three to four minutes is tough to come back from.”

Houghton, which advances to its second state finals in four seasons, set the tone early with a goal 55 seconds in from Erich Walter. The Gremlins controlled the puck for much of the first, outshooting Powers Catholic 13-3 and netting two goals in the final three minutes.

Reid Pietila scored a power play goal at 14:02 and Wyatt Liston, on a wraparound shot that slipped past Chargers goaltender Austin Kane, put the game out of reach.

“There were no excuses with the way we came out,” senior forward Mike Forman said. “We weren’t prepared.”

While Powers Catholic (20-9) matched Houghton’s play in the second and third, all the Chargers could muster was a Conor Witherspoon goal 1:04 into the third.

Witherspoon had a shot on a breakaway gloved by Houghton goaltender Marcus Gloss in the second, and the Gremlins killed a five-minute major penalty in the third successfully.

“We felt that if we could score on that power play we could make a run,” said Perry, who concluded his ninth season. “That kind of hurt there, not scoring on the power play.

“We came out flat that first period. I don’t know, we didn’t have much. There’s really no excuse for that.”

The loss marked Flint Powers Catholic’s 18 appearance in the final four and second semifinal loss in three years. The Chargers, who have never won a state title, lost in double overtime to Sault Ste. Marie in 2013.

“We know that if we can get an early lead, it just helps us so much,” Houghton coach Corey Markham said. "We play at ease, and to get that first one one minute in it just gives us an extra step. I thought our first period was so tremendous.

"We had such work ethic, and our (competition) level was high. For us, it was the top we played all year.”