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Sports

Fenton's Defense Shuts Down Tri-City

Tigers' penalty kill shines against the Chiefs.

FLINT - The old adage that defense wins games couldn’t be more true for the .

The squad used stellar defense and penalty kill in its 5-2 victory over rival Tri-City (, Durand, Linden), Friday night in Flint.

“From day one, everyone on this team has wanted to learn the basics,” Fenton coach Matt Krusniak said. “From that first day we concentrated a lot on defense. We have four guys with a lot of experience on defense.”

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Fenton successfully defended 7-of-8 penalty kill situations. Halfway through the third period, Tri-City had a 5-on-3 power play chance – for more than a minute and a half - and managed just one shot on net.

The Chiefs, who got goals late in the game from Evan Haller and Jake Stone, were unable to get a clear shot off all night. From the neutral zone on, everything was contested.

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“We’ve been working hard on the penalty kill in practice, trying to get it better,” Fenton defenseman T.J. Polakowski said. “We did good tonight, this was a fun game to be a part of.”

The Tigers led by as many as four – three of their goals came off of one-timers. The other was scored on a wrist shot.

“I think it’s all good passing. These guys have played with each other for a long time,” Krusniak added. “They don’t care who gets the goal. They move the puck well and are accountable for each other.”

Fenton's Kyle Lexie put his team on the board first just three minutes into the contest.

Tyler Delong extended that lead to two goals with time winding down in the first period on a goal assisted by Kevin Berry and Jake Foguth.

Foguth, a winger, scored once and assisted in three goals for Fenton.

Fenton tallied a 34-24 shots edge in the contest.

The Tigers (10-9) look to build off their success as they take on Freeland Carrollton in Hartland at 7:30 p.m.

Tri-City gets back to action Saturday against Swartz Creek at 7:30 p.m. at Hartland Sports Arena.

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