Marinette Youth Hockey Association

 

MARINETTE – The M&M Thunder high school hockey team is set to host its Battle at the REC tournament this weekend.

Fans can come to the Marinette Community REC Center and enjoy top-flight hockey all weekend. The Battle at the REC will feature ten games taking place Friday through Sunday. Admission to all games is free.

“The Thunder will come to play. It should be excellent competition with other great schools,” Coach John Danielak said.

“This program is not just about playing and winning, we are also, more importantly, working on developing great young adults. We will put on a great show for our community to enjoy. From kids battling on the ice, to all our parents, both current and past, coming together it will be something special.”

The tournament will bring teams from Dodgeville, Wis and Ontonagon, Mich. as well as a pair of teams from the Marquette Junior Wildcats hockey club to town.

Danielak is looking forward to strong competition.

“Marquette is bringing two teams. They are always tough competition,” he said. “They have such a strong program every year and do the fundamentals exceptionally well. Dodgeville will also come to play. Last year we were able to come out on top when we played them at full strength, but it is a new year, and we will have to be ready.”

Ontonagon represents the unknown in the tournament for Danielak’s squad as it marks the first meeting between the two programs in recent memory.

The action starts at 5 p.m. on Friday when Marquette BB takes on Dodgeville. The Thunder will open against Marquette JV at 7 p.m. Friday night.

The tournament is a round robin format with each of the five teams playing four games. The champion will be determined with a point system in which teams receive two points for a victory, one point for a period win (or one-half point for a tie) and one point for a shutout for a maximum of six points per game.

The Thunder are 1-3 on the young season. They have been off since playing at Verona and Beloit December 4-5. In those games, Adam Lemery asserted himself. The senior forward racked up five goals in a 7-3 win over Verona and then scored again during a 7-2 loss at Beloit.

Danielak was pleased to have his team pointed in the right direction after picking up their first win.

“Last weekend we improved from our first outing, and this weekend should improve on that,” he said. “We will have a couple more players this weekend. That will help the bench keep their legs fresh, and we will continue to work on staying out of the box.

“I am really impressed with how we have been able to pull such a great group of kids together,” Danielak continued. “Many of us have spent many hours building something for the kids to enjoy. We were looking at not having enough kids to field a team, and now have a full team. I’m very proud and excited to be on the bench with this great group.”

 

Tournament Schedule

Friday: Marquette BB vs. Dodgeville, 5 p.m. M&M Thunder vs. Marquette JV, 7 p.m.

Saturday: Marquette BB vs. Ontonagon, 9:30 a.m. Dodgeville vs. Marquette JV, 11:30 a.m. M&M Thunder vs. Marquette BB, 3 p.m. Ontonagon vs. Marquette JV, 5 p.m. M&M Thunder vs. Dodgeville, 7 p.m.

Sunday: Dodgeville vs. Ontonagon, 9:15 a.m. Marquette BB vs. Marquette JV, 12:30 p.m. M&M Thunder vs. Ontonagon, 2:30 p.m.

 

BANTAM

The Thunder Bantams welcomed Green Bay to the REC Center on Saturday and recorded a pair of wins with scores of 5-4 and 8-7.

In game one, the Bobcats scored first, but Blue Haley netted a shorthanded goal to tie the game and Natalie Sparpanic gave the Thunder the lead before the first intermission.

The Thunder outscored the Bobcats 3-2 in the second period with goals from Brayden Rounds, Chase Linsmeier and Haley. Green Bay scored in the closing minutes of the contest to get within a goal, but Ethan King posted 20 saves to preserve the win.

In game two, the Bobcats again scored first, but Avery Waloway scored to make it 1-1 after one period.

The Bobcats dominated the second period. Goals from Waloway and Haley couldn’t stop Green Bay from pushing ahead 6-3.

The Thunder got to work in the third period. Haley scored when Damien Winterbottom dished out his third assist of the contest. Rounds followed with back-to-back goals, and Logan Sakovitz put the Thunder up 7-6 with assists from Rounds and Linsmeier.

Green Bay tied the game with 6:07 to play, but Rounds complete a hat-trick with a game-winning goal four minutes later.

King finished with 31 saves against 38 shots giving him 51 stops on the day.

The Thunder will travel to Iron Mountain on Saturday. Game one of that doubleheader is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start.

 

PEEWEE

The Thunder Peewee’s won three-of-four games this weekend.

On Saturday, they traveled to Green Bay, dropping game one 12-3 before getting off the mat for a 7-4 win in game-two.

All three goals in game one came off the stick of Collin Campbell, while Grace Loomis made 27 saves.

Campbell stayed hot with five more goals in game two.

He had a hat-trick midway through the second period to give the Thunder a 3-1 lead, and added two more in the third period. Chuckie Bird contributed two goals in the third period as well, and the Thunder cruised to the 7-4 win.

Jack Aftanas was between the pipes in game-two and made 29 saves to pick up the win.

On Sunday, the Thunder swept a twin-bill at Iron Mountain with scores of 6-2 and 5-1.

After a scoreless first period in game one, Campbell and Owen Haley scored in the second period. Campbell threw in a hat-trick in the third period to total four goals in the game, while Bird also scored to account for the 6-2 win.

Connor Radtke notched the win in goal for the Thunder.

In game two, Campbell continued his dominance, scoring all five Thunder goals and stretching his streak to eight consecutive games with a hat-trick. Aftanas picked up his second win of the weekend in goal.

The Peewees improved to 7-7 on the season after three straight victories. They will host Shawano at the Community REC Center on Saturday.

 

SQUIRT B

The Squirt B team took a pair of wins over DePere at the REC Center on Sunday, winning with scores of 9-0 and 4-1.

After four consecutive wins, the Squirt B’s are now 9-3-1 on the season.

In game one, the Thunder outshot the Voyagers 26-3.

Owen Shaffer stopped all three DePere shots to earn his third consecutive shutout in goal for the Thunder.

Meanwhile Landon Dura posted his first hat-trick of the season. Parker Perket added two goals and two assists while Jaxson Teteak had a pair of goals and one assist. Wyatt Kneath and Calvin Schroeder also scored for the Thunder. Erin Vincent had two assists and Brayden Forgette added another.

Alex Bird made his goalkeeping debut in game-two and stopped six of the seven shots he faced to earn the win.

The Thunder racked up 25 shots, and DePere’s Tristan Knight blocked 21 of them.

Teteak got the Thunder on the board in the first period, and Schroeder scored the game-winner in the second with an assist from Kneath. Perket added two more goals in the third period to account for the 4-1 final score.

The games marked the last action for the Squirt B team before the holiday break. They will return to play January 7-9 when they take part in the Badger State Games in Wausau, Wis.