Stars hold off Ironmen

Hosts take three-goal lead, 3-2 win

BOX SCORE  |  PHOTOS  |  SUNDAY GAME NOTES

TRAVERSE CITY – The Traverse City North Stars seized control early on Saturday evening, then almost let a three-goal lead slip away before closing out a 3-2 victory over Jamestown in the second leg of a three-game series at Centre ICE Arena.

Alexander Taulien (Crystal Lake, IL/TC North Stars NAHL)put the hosts on the board first, banging home his ninth goal of the season just 7:58 into the affair.  Nearly 10 minutes later, Eric Jones (Traverse City, MI/Lansing Capitals U18)cleaned up a loose puck at the crease to give Traverse City a two-goal bulge through the first intermission.

TC netkeep Kyle Laslo (Fenton, MI/Osoyoos KIJHL)worked the pipes for his 26^th win, setting a single-season club record that surpassed Tyler Marble (25 in 2010-11) and Drew Strandberg (24 in 2009-10).

The Stars enjoyed a 12-4 advantage in shots on goal over the first 20 minutes, then made it 3-0 when Will Badner (Cadillac, MI/Motor City NAHL)notched his 20^th of the year at 8:12 of the second frame.

The Ironmen, who are lodged in fifth place in the NAHL North Division standings, began to claw back into the contest in the final minute of the second, then made it a one-goal spread with 4:27 to play, creating some tense moments down the stretch for North Stars head coach Chad Fournier.

“It’s two points, it’s a win, and it’s another attempt to create some momentum heading into the playoffs,” he said. “There were some good things, and some things we’d rather not see again if at all possible. It was definitely nice to see Kyle (Laslo) get the record, that was a real bright spot tonight.”

Traverse City found out that Kalamazoo will serve as its first-round postseason opponent after the Jr. K-Wings fell to Port Huron 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.  The Stars will travel next Friday and Saturday in the first two installments of the best-of-five North semifinals before hosting K-Zoo on April 13-14. A decisive fifth game would return to southwestern Michigan on April 16.

Saturday evening’s playoff tuneup featured a pair of two-assist performances from Kyle Schempp (Saginaw, MI/Compuware U18/Ferris State)and Seth Adams (Big Rapids, MI/Big Rapids HS/Ferris State), while Badner and Jake Peacock (Traverse City, MI/Bay Reps HS)added one each.

The teams will close out the 2011-12 regular season on Sunday afternoon at Centre ICE. Face-off is slated for 1 p.m.