Wildcats Ice Lakeland Eagles 4 - 3
Novi wins home opener; Rousseau nets 2
12/3/05 by Scott Olson
 
The Novi Hockey Wildcats were hungry for a victory after two road losses. Friday night, at the regular season home opener, they got that victory with a 4-3 win over the Lakeland Eagles.

Lakeland got on the board first, only 21 seconds into the first period. Novi's Tom Ciaverilla answered back with 2:51 to go in the first period to make it a tie game after one period.

In the second period, both teams played some very solid defense. With 4:23 to go, Jeff Donohue scored off a Craig Howell pass to give Novi the lead. Senior Steve Rousseau added a goal with some help from Ryan Fox on a power play to put Novi ahead by two. But Lakeland answered back two minutes later, also on a power play, to make it 3-2 after two.

Lakeland scored three minutes into the third period, making the rest of the game a fast paced nail-biter. With 3:06 left in the game, Rousseau scored again, this time off a Caiverilla pass, to give the Wildcats a one goal edge, and the victory. Novi's defense held the Eagles at bay, and Kevin Michalczuk, in net for Novi, made some solid saves to ensure Novi held on to their one goal lead.

Novi is now 2-3 overall, and 1-2 in conference action for the season.

Next up, Novi faces travels to Brighton Wednesday. One week later, they take on South Lyon at Novi. On Saturday, Dec. 17th, Novi and Northville meet at the Compuware Sports Arena in Plymouth. Face-off is 5:00 p.m. Then, the Cats are off until their annual road trip to the tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula January 6 - 7.