L’Anse Creuse Unified leads MAC, proves turnaround is real

By Scott Bentley

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — The new year has brought new results and expectations for L’Anse Creuse Unified hockey.

Last season, the team finished in fourth place in the MAC Red, went 2-8 to end the year, had a record under .500, and was eliminated in the first round of regionals.

So far this year, Unified is 10-4-2 and has more points than any team in either division of the MAC.

“The kids are buying in,” L’Anse Creuse Unified coach Jon Nader said. “The kids are playing really good hockey right now. They’re all on board and we’re really excited about that.”

There’s been a focus on defense this year and it’s translated extremely well, with only two regulation losses in the team’s last 10 games.

“When we talk about defense on this team … we talk about how it’s not just one. It’s not just the goalie,” Nader explained. “It’s everyone on that ice.”

Although it’s not “just the goalie,” the goaltender situation has been great for L’Anse Creuse Unified with Perez Silva starting in more than half of the team’s games and posting a .926 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.86.

“Knowing that we have that in the back end has been a huge success for us,” Nader said. “I mean, all three of them have been working hard in the offseason, getting a lot of pucks hit at them. They’ve been stellar for us this year.”

Silva is joined in net by senior Zachary Hill (3-1 record, .904 SV%) and freshman Jake Stewart (1-1, .859 SV%), with all three netminders currently posting a goals against average of under 3.00 on the year.

“The chemistry between all three of us goalies is so healthy right now,” Silva said. “We all want that playing time, so it’s healthy competition. It helps us stay competitive and translates over into the game which helps our back line… If we have a confident goalie back there all our team has to worry about is scoring goals.”

Scoring goals has come easy to the team’s dynamic top line of Logan Jarvey (12 goals, 16 assists, 28 points), Aiden Suchocki (12 goals, 10 assists, 22 points), and Drew Halaas (10 goals, 5 assists, 15 points), who are all scoring at least a point a game and have allowed the rest of the team to focus on defense.

“Working with my linemates Aiden and Drew, we’ve been communicating more than we were last year,” Jarvey, a junior forward and the team’s point leader, explained. “We knew we had talent, but I feel like last year we were all more focused on the individual. Now we’re starting to come together as a line and as a group.”

All of this has led to a program-wide trust from coaches to players, and everyone has bought into the team.

“I definitely think it’s trusting the system,” Silva said. “Some games you have bad bounces and stuff happens… It’s trusting the system again, trusting the coaching staff, and trusting our team most importantly. Knowing that we’ll get those goals back… I strive to do better and I’m pretty sure Logan does, too. We want to do what’s best for the team and it’s nice to have the buy-in from the rest of the guys.”

On Jan. 14, the team played St. Clair Shores Unified, which is a program that not only started off the season as the MAC title favorites but also crushed L’Anse Creuse 5-0 in November.

“We played St. Clair Shores (in November), and they gave it to us pretty good,” Nader said. “Shores was picked to win the MAC. It’s bulletin board material. We have it in the locker room all the time. We’re going to see how much better we got because we’ve been playing really good hockey.”

St. Clair Shores Unified again defeated L’Anse Creuse Unified by a score of 5-3 in a close game that saw L’Anse Creuse get out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Despite the loss, the team showed noticeable improvement from its November blowout and is still ahead of St. Clair Shores in the standings by four points.

L’Anse Creuse Unified is looking to keep the momentum going and take home a division title at the end of the year.

“I’m sure there’s going to be some more bumps in the road,” Nader said. “But we have 10 games left and we’re just trying to get better every time we step foot on that ice. Our goal is always to win the MAC, not just our division.”