Traverse City blanks Janesville
JANESVILLE — Zach Naglevoort thought the scorekeeper was “a little trigger happy” but the visiting Traverse City North Stars goalkeeper came up big with 42 saves Friday to stop the Janesville Jets, 1-0, in North American League hockey.
It was the first time the Jets were blanked since the St. Louis Bandits posted a 1-0 victory last Dec. 10. The Jets have seven shutout victories, including a 2-0 victory over the North Stars last Oct. 22.
Lance Fredrickson’s goal, which caught the right corner of the net with 20 seconds remaining in the second period, stood up for the North Stars’ victory.
Janesville falls to 27-8-3 but maintains a seven-point lead over St. Louis for first place in the Midwest Division. Janesville has played two more games than St. Louis.
The thrilling battle came down to the North Stars standing up to the Jets’ four power plays in the last 12 minutes of the third period.
“It felt like the entire third period we were killing off penalties,” Naglevoort said. “We had to do what we had to do, and we got the win.’’
Naglevoort stopped 16 shots in the third. He said the key was just keeping his composure.
“I was not even thinking about it,” Naglevoort said. “You just stop the pucks as they come, you can’t worried about things like that.’’
It was Nagelvoort’s first shutout of the season.
“I was just seeing everything great,” Naglevoort said. “My guys were helping me out.”
On the other side, the Jets were left to deal with their second loss in a row.
“Unfortunately, with the amount of pressure we put on in the third, their goaltender played very well,” said Jets’ assistant coach Jason Dobes. “He played well all 60 minutes, and in the third, unfortunately, we didn’t find a way.’’
The Jets tonight to shake off a two-game losing streak before it grows.
“It’s tough,” Dobes said. “We’ve been fortunate to have a pretty good go so far, and we’ve been fortunate to comeback and capitalize in situations like that. Right now it doesn’t feel all that great, but you are not going to win every battle.’’
The puck drops again at 7 tonight at the Janesville Ice Arena.
TRAVERSE CITY 1, JANESVILLE 0
Traverse City North Stars 0 1
Janesville Jets 0 0
Second Period
TC—Lance Fredrickson (Chris Waterstreet, Alexander Taulien), 19:29.
Saves—Zach Nagelvoort (TC) 42 , Tony Kujava (J) 19.
Time—2:10. Attendance—553.
Jan 21, 2012 at 9:57 p.m.
Suggest removal
Isn't it funny how the Janesville Gazette only posts the Janesville Jets on their FRONT PAGE OF the sports section when they lose and page 6 in a very small article when they win. Are they hockey haters???? Did they know the Jets are in first place and provide great entertainment to approximately 700-800 people each game night. Oh no that's right they only come when they have nothing else to do like when ALL Janesville after school sports were cancelled. Well thank you Janesville Gazette for your lack of support!
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