skip navigation
Home Teams Registrations Tournaments Calendar News Board Sponsors

Thunder win two on weekend road trip

02/21/2023, 11:30am CST
By Josh Lacy

MANISTIQUE, Mich. – The M&M Thunder High School hockey team came home with a pair of wins after a weekend road trip to the U.P. The Thunder split a pair of contests at Marquette before topping Manistique 7-2 on Sunday.

 

HIGH SCHOOL

The weekend had an inauspicious start with a 9 a.m. EST puck drop Saturday morning. The Thunder, who were missing several key contributors saw Marquette score 25 seconds into the game and run out to a 4-0 lead at the first intermission.

Coach Alex McDonald spoke about playing with a shortened roster.

“It gave me a chance to work some line combinations, and I think we found some. We found three lines that really seemed to click. The kids adjusted, and we have a deep team with 12 forwards and six defense.”

Blue Haley netted his 20th goal of the season in that opening contest, but the Thunder fell 7-1.

From there, the team showed off its depth, getting goals form seven different players in the next two games.

“It’s a tough time of year,” McDonald said, “but it was a good weekend.”

Saturday afternoon, the Thunder took the ice against Marquette again.

Trailing 1-0 after the first period, Haley and Corbin Spencer converted on a pair of power plays in the second period to send the game to the final period tied 2-2.

Brayden Rounds scored in the opening seconds of the third period, and after Marquette tied the game, Rounds scored again to give the Thunder the lead for good at 4-3.

On Sunday, the team travelled to Manistique and rolled to a 7-2 victory.

Theron Thayer keyed the offense with a hattrick while Broden Krause tallied three assists.

Randy Von Haden got the scoring started with assists from Avery Waloway and Abby Aftanas. Thayer followed with his first goal off an assist from Krause, and the Thunder led 2-0 after the first period.

In the second period the Thunder added goals from Thayer and Rounds to lead 4-1 entering the third.

Waloway and Simon Bowers found the net in the third, while Thayer completed his hattrick and the Thunder came away with a 7-2 win.

The Thunder now set their sights toward the final weekend of the regular season. They will host Manistique in their annual Pink Out game on Friday before taking on Dodgeville on Saturday and Manitowoc on Sunday.

Doors open for the Pink Out game at 5:30 with puck-drop scheduled for 7 p.m. The event will feature a Teddy Bear Toss benefitting Aurora Pediatrics as well as thousands of dollars in raffle prizes with all funds going to help Zack Meyers of Wausaukee in his fight against cancer.

“We see (Manistique) again on Friday and then our big test will be on Saturday against Dodgeville,” McDonald said of the upcoming weekend. “I think that will show us where we are going to be in the State Tournament. It will be huge for rankings and put us anywhere from fifth to first because there wasn’t a huge pool. Beating Dodgeville would put us as probably the first or second seed, but losing to them would put us fourth at best.”

The Thunder will host the WAHA State Tournament at the Community REC Center March 17-19.

PEEWEE A

The Thunder Peewee A team traveled to Wausau this weekend to take part in the Badger State Games.

The team dropped its opening contest 2-1 against Sun Prairie and then fell to Waunakee and Middleton 5-0 and 2-0.

Owen Shaffer scored the lone Thunder goal with assists from Brayden Forgette and Jesse McClarren, but Sun Prairie peppered the net with 35 shots. Grace Loomis (25) and Jack Aftanas (8) combined to make 33 saves, but the Thunder came up on the short end of a 2-1 score.

Aftanas made 28 saves against Waunakee and 12 more against Middleton, but the Thunder could not get any offense going.

The Peewee A team will travel to Oshkosh on Saturday, March 4, in its final preparation for the WAHA State Tournament March 10-12.

Tag(s): 8U Cross Ice  10U Squirt A  10U Squirt B  12U PeeWee A  14U Bantam  18U High School  12U PeeWee B