EAST LANSING - The Okemos Chiefs (16-7) picked up an early, 2-0, first period lead over DeWitt/St. Johns Friday night, kept them scoreless in the second, but still found themselves in overtime 17 minutes later. Wasting little time in extra time, Chiefs captain Anders Staky nailed his third goal to finish the job he started, putting DeWitt/St. Johns away for good, 3-2, and attaining yet another hat-trick to enhance his senior resume.

Okemos, leading the Capital Area Activities Conference at 10-1 in league games, had plenty of scoring chances throughout this one, while DeWitt/St. Johns' opportunities were few and far between. Despite an Okemos onslaught on net, DeWitt/St. Johns were far more efficient, converting two goals in the third in the near upset.

"You get into games like this where all of a sudden you're snake-bit," Okemos head coach Bill Sipola said after the win.

"You're shooting pucks at the goalie, and nothing is going in. We're hitting cross bars, and he's making big saves. They come down one shift and get a soft goal. It really pumps them up and drags us down a little bit. We shot and shot and shot and nothing went in. Just one of those nights, and we were lucky to get away with it."


With Staky in the penalty box and a late 5-on-3 opportunity for DeWitt/St. Johns, put all of the pressure on Okemos' penalty kill.

"That was tough to fight that off, and the boys did a good job there," Sipola said. "That was key because it came at a bad time."

The Chiefs host Mount Pleasant (17-6) early Saturday evening at 5 p.m.