Marinette Youth Hockey Association

 

HIGH SCHOOL

After dropping consecutive games for the first time this season, 3-1 and 5-2 against Houghton Friday and Saturday, the team took a 6-4 win over Marquette Sunday morning, and then capped the weekend with a 3-3 draw against the Junior Wildcats.

“Marquette is always tough, so that was a good win for us,” coach Alex McDonald said.

After a scoreless first period in game one on Sunday, the second period finished with a flurry of goals.

The Wildcats scored with three minutes to play, just before Randy Von Haden converted a power play goal with an assist from Ava McDonald. Marquette answered Von Haden’s strike 18 seconds later to take a 2-1 advantage into the final period.

Goals continued to come quickly in the third period as the two teams combined to hit the net seven times.

Blue Haley tied the game early in the period, and again Marquette answered quickly. Still, the Thunder continued to fire away and converted on back-to-back power plays with goals from Theron Thayer and Brayden Rounds midway through the period.

“That’s been the theme,” McDonald said of his teams perseverance. “When we’re playing like that, we’re staying with every team.”

Marquette committed three penalties in the third period, and the Thunder turned two of those into goals which proved to be the difference in the game.

“Powe plays were huge,” McDonald said. “We haven’t worked on the power play too much. We don’t have much time into it, but it produced four goals this weekend, and it showed potential the whole time. That was a big take out of the weekend, that we have the ability to lean on our power play for some scoring.”

Marquette tied the game with five minutes to play, but Haley found the net again two minutes later. The Wildcats pulled their goalie looking to level the game, but Haley was able to control the puck and hit the empty net to cap the game at 6-4.

In game two, the Thunder couldn’t overcome three second-period goals from the Wildcats.

Corbin Spencer got the scoring started near the end of the first period, and Von Haden tied the game at 2-2 in the second period, but Marquette found the net with 20 seconds to play before the second intermission.

Damien Winterbottom scored an unassisted goal early in the third, but the Thunder could not produce a go-ahead goal and the game ended in a 3-3 tie.

The Thunder struggled to produce offensively against Houghton. Winterbottom scored the lone Thunder goal on Friday, while Spencer and Thayer provided goals on Saturday.

The team will not have to wait long to take another shot at the squad from Copper Country. The Thunder will head north this weekend to face Ontonagon and Houghton.

“It’s a big road trip with Ontonagon and Houghton,” McDonald said. “We’ll be looking for some redemption against Houghton after not playing very well in those games this weekend.”

The Thunder will play two games at Ontonagon on Saturday and twice at Houghton on Sunday.

BANTAM

The Thunder Bantams went 1-3 in games against Waupaca and De Pere this weekend.

The team opened with a 5-3 win over Waupaca on Saturday. Logan Sakovitz netted a hattrick, while Connor Radtke and Chuckie Bird scored as well.

The Comets responded with a 6-3 win in game two. The Thunder scoring came from Sakovitz, Chase Nerat and Wes Baty.

The team traveled to De Pere on Sunday and fell with scores of 7-3 and 9-3. Sakovitz, Nerat, and Bird had goals in game one, while Bird scored all three Thunder goals in game two.

PEEWEE A

The Thunder Peewee A team salvaged a 3-3 tie after dropping game one 4-1 to Appleton at the REC Center on Sunday.

In game two, the Thunder raced out to a 3-0 lead with goals from Owen Shaffer, Jesse McClarren and Parker Perket, but Appleton came back and finally tied the game in the final minute of the contest.

Shaffer produced the lone Thunder goal in game one with an assist from Brayden Forgette.

PEEWEE B

The Thunder Peewee B team dropped a pair of games against Green Bay on Saturday and another against De Pere on Sunday.

Against De Pere, the Thunder played with only six skaters and still manage to win the third period, 1-0 in what ended as an 8-2 loss. The team got goals from Lucien Thayer and Chet Lacy while Lacy and Kelven Winterbottom added assists.

SQUIRT B

The Squirt B team took part in the Menomonie (Wis.) tournament this weekend and outscored their opponents 24-2 on their way to winning the championship.

The team opened with an 8-1 win over Beloit. Carter Campbell scored five goals while Ryan Haile found the net twice and Liam Hofer scored as well. Liam Kegley made seven saves to preserve the win.

They then topped Menomonie 10-1. Campbell added five more goals, while Hofer scored four and Haile scored once. Kegleymade four saves in the semifinal win.

In the title game Kegley came up with 12 saves to shutout Chippewa Falls 6-0.

Campbell added two goals to a stellar weekend while Hofer, Haile, Nova Zeske and Finn Eastman scored as well.