Five First-Period Goals lead Cardinals over D-I Eastern Michigan

SAGINAW, MI – The Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (16-3) extended their winning streak to five games with a dominant 9-2 victory over the M1 Eastern Michigan Eagles (4-13) on Saturday night at Saginaw Bay Ice Arena. The first division-I opponent that Saginaw had faced since the ‘16-’17 season posed no threat whatsoever.
Entering the night, Eastern had been outscored 46-12 in their last four games and were riding a nine-game losing skid.
From the opening puck drop, Saginaw Valley was in control, scoring three goals in the first five minutes of the contest. The newest member of the Cardinals opened the scoring as freshman forward Shea Harmeson delivered a sneaky first goal of his career.
Freshman phenom Logan O’Flanagan continued his storied success as he scored two goals while adding an assist to the victory. O’Flanagan has a team-high 36 points with 22 goals and 14 assists.
Saginaw delivered five first-period goals to give themselves a lead that they would never lose. Sophomore defenseman Ethan Schneider scored his first goal of the season in the opening period after missing most of the year with a shoulder injury.
Eastern Michigan seemed completely outmatched on both sides of the ice and was never able to put together a strong offensive rush. SVSU outshot the Eagles, 26-3 in the first period alone.
SVSU would sprinkle in four more goals throughout the last two periods and never took their foot off the gas. The Cards continued to play physical hockey and create scoring chances while holding a commanding lead.
Six different skaters scored for Saginaw including two goals each from grad-senior Tyler Russell, junior Brendan Dickinson, and O’Flanagan. Russell has emerged as another dangerous forward for this Cardinal offense with 11 goals and 11 assists.
Eastern was able to scrape together a pair of goals late, but the deficit was too large to mount any sort of a comeback. The losing streak is extended to 10 games for the Eagles as they travel to face Concordia University next weekend.
The Cardinals will be back in action on January 27th, when they face historic rival Grand Valley State University. Puck drop is set for 8:00pm ET at Griff’s Georgetown in Hudsonville, Michigan.
Tom Cavanaugh
SVSU Hockey Writer & Broadcaster