Bang-bang goals help
Chiefs shoot down Rocks

  Saturday night's packed-to-the-rafters Plymouth Cultural Center crowd got a lot of bang for its buck thanks to a wildly entertaining duel between P-CEP rivals Salem and Canton.

  The Chiefs prevailed, 3-2, but not until a last-ditch Rock rally came up just short.

  Canton improved to 2-0 while Salem slipped to 1-1. Both teams were coming off impressive season-opening efforts as the Chiefs throttled Waterford Mott, 6-3, and the Rocks trimmed state power Novi, 5-4.

  "We started out slow, which you can't afford to do against a team as good as Canton," said Salem coach Ryan Ossenmacher. "I don't know if it was because we were a little too high after our win over Novi, but whatever the reason, there shouldn't be a letdown when we're playing against Canton."

  Canton's Matt Rodgers lit up the scoreboard first when he flipped a perfectly-placed shot over Salem goalie Brandon Price's glove and just under the cross-bar 3:45 into the contest.

  Phil Baciak and AJ Rosales picked up assists on Rodgers' goal.

  Salem answered five minutes later when senior captain Ryan Quigley zipped down the left side of the rink and ripped a poor-angled shot that banked off Canton goalie Spencer Craig's pads and into the back of the mesh.

  "Ryan's dynamic speed makes him dangerous," said Ossenmacher. "When you can skate as fast as he can, you're going to get more opportunities to score."

  Price was spectacular during the final two minutes of the period to keep the game deadlocked heading into the first intermission.

  "Brandon has played well in our first two games," said Ossenmacher. "He kept us in it early on tonight."

  The pivotal sequence in the well-played game took place just over 10 minutes into the second period when Canton's Garrett Bryden and Taylor Baker scored less than a minute apart to hand the Chiefs' a 3-1 lead.

  Bryden's short-handed lamp-lighter was unassisted. Josh Dickson and Brandon Grillo assisted on Baker's goal.

  Quigley struck again with his third goal in two games 1:01 into the third period to bring Salem to within 3-2, but Craig and the Canton defense buckled down the rest of the way.

  A Canton penalty handed Salem a power-play opportunity with 2:17 remaining in the game, but the Rocks couldn't get the puck past Craig.

  Salem's last gasp came with 1 second left when Connor Berlin took a swipe at the puck from the doorstep, but he couldn't get enough of his blade on the slab of rubber to generate any power and the horn sounded as the puck bounced just wide of the net.

  Craig was more than solid between the pipes for the winners, stopping 25 shots.

  Ed Wright can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or info@plymouthcantonsports.com.

Salem's Ryan Quigley (7) scored both of the Rocks' goals Saturday night. (Ed Wright photo)

Matt Rodgers flipped the puck into the top of the net to open the game's scoring. (Ed Wright photo)

Salem's Austin Sartorius defends Canton's Taylor Baker after losing his stick. (Ed Wright photo)

Salem senior goalie Brandon Price was solid between the pipes for the Rocks. (Ed Wright photo)

Canton's AJ Rosales maneuvers past Salem's Michael Hochkins. (Ed Wright photo)

Salem's Garrett Berg attempts to get around Jordan Smith's check. (Ed Wright photo)