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Thunder close regular season with Pink Out and Senior Day

03/01/2023, 11:15am CST
By Josh Lacy

MARINETTE – The M&M Thunder high school hockey team packed the house for their annual Pink Out game on Friday and then honored its seniors during their regular season finale on Sunday.

 

HIGH SCHOOL

On Friday, the Thunder hosted Manistique, but the night was about more than hockey at the Community REC Center. With its annual Pink Out game, the Thunder chose to raise funds for the Meyers family of Wausaukee.

After a long struggle, Zack and Kelsey Meyers finally welcomed their first child, Rusty, to the world in November. However, just ten days later, Zack was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, and his battle is ongoing.

“They kept the purpose in mind,” coach Alex McDonald said of his team. “That was the message, and the kids heard it. It’s not about us today, it’s about the family that we are raising money for and leave your egos aside and go have fun. This was certainly close to being a record (crowd). It was good that the community could come together like this.”

Zack was unable to attend the game, but Kelsey, the cousin of Thunder defenseman Simon Bowers, and Rusty were on hand among a near capacity crowd at the REC Center. With numerous raffles including several big prizes from generous donors, the Thunder raised nearly $12,000 for the family.

The evening also featured a Teddy Bear toss in between the first and second periods during which 170 stuffed animals were collected to be donated to Aurora Pediatrics.

The game nearly didn’t happen. Manistique was missing several players, but an agreement was struck to allow three Thunder players to suit up for the Emeralds and play an exhibition contest.

“After a few anxious hours, we came together to make it work and it turned out to be a fun event,” McDonald said.

The Thunder delighted the crowd with a 9-3 win. Brayden Rounds turned in a hat-trick while Broden Krause scored twice and Bowers, Ava McDonald, Joey Danielak and Damien Winterbottom contributed goals as well.

Blue Haley, Mason Denny and Randall Von Haden suited up for Manistique and Haley knocked in one of the Emeralds’ three goals.

On Sunday, the Thunder played its final regular season contest and turned in a workmanlike 8-0 victory over Manitowoc.

“That was about as good as we could ask for going into state,” McDonald said. “They did a lot of things right and a lot of things came together that we as coaches asked them to do. An 8-0 win is pretty decisive, and it was thorough and businesslike. It was all business, and the kids were as focused as they’ve been all year.”

Prior to the game, the Thunder honored its three seniors Joey Danielak, Glenn Woodworth and Corbin Spencer although Spencer was unable to play after suffering an injury during Saturday’s action.

“We have a short list of seniors, but they are our team leaders,” McDonald said. “Joey’s been around forever. It’s been fun to coach him. I’ve known him and his parents forever, but never coached him. Glenn has only been around for two years, but he has turned himself into a legitimate solid goalie who gives us a chance to win every game and today he absolutely stood on his head on Senior Day. Corbin unfortunately got hurt and wasn’t able to play today, but I’ve enjoyed coaching him at quite a few stops.”

The Thunder scored two goals in the first period before putting up a five-spot in the second period and one more in the third. Meanwhile Woodworth rejected all 18 Manitowoc shots to earn his second career shutout. The senior netminder bookended his season with shutouts in his goaltending debut against Ontonagon and in the regular season finale.

Von Haden and Haley started the scoring in the first period while Addy Johnson notched assists on both goals.

Von Haden and Haley both completed hat-tricks during the second-period onslaught, while Johnson competed a play-maker with her third assist of the night.

In the third period, Johnson capped off a career-night with a beautiful bar-down goal off an assist from Brayden Rounds.

Rounds also found the net in the game, while Von Haden and Ava McDonald each had a pair of assists.

With the victory, the Thunder closed the regular season with a record of 15-9-4.

In between the Pink Out and Senior Day games, the Thunder dropped a pair of games against Dodgeville with scores of 8-1 and 9-1.

The Ice Wolves are among the competition for the upcoming WAHA State Tournament which the Thunder will host March 17-19.

That gives the team three weeks to find a way to solve Dodgeville goalie Chayse Gilbertson who turned away 33 of 35 Thunder shots on Saturday as well as forwards Charlie Tremeling and Dalen Rickard who each knocked in five goals during the doubleheader.

BANTAM

The Thunder Bantams hosted Mosinee in a doubleheader on Saturday and came away with a 1-1 tie and a 4-2 win.

Logan Sakovitz had a hat-trick during the win while Chase Nerat also scored. Bryce Vincent’s goal in the first period of game one secured the 1-1 tie.

Ethan King notched ten saves in the tie while Connor Radtke had 15 saves in the win.

The Bantams will return to action at the WAHA Bantam 14U 4A State Tournament March 4-5 in Barron, Wis.

PEEWEE B

The Thunder Peewee B team took part in a tournament at Chippewa Falls. The team dropped all three goals while Lucien Thayer and Chet Lacy contributed goals. The team will close out its season on Sunday at Eagle River.

SQUIRT A

The Thunder Squirt A team closed its regular season with a doubleheader against Maquette on Sunday. The Wildcats defeated the Thunder 6-4 and then scored two goals in the final 28 seconds to claim a 7-6 win in game two.

Sullivan Reek netted four goals in the two games while Landon Dura recorded three goals. Erin Vincent scored twice, and Jaxen Teteak found the net as well.

The Squirt A team will take part in the WAHA Squirt 10U 4A State Tournament March 4-5 in Manitowoc, Wis.

SQUIRT B

The Thunder Squirt B team closed the regular season with a pair of wins over Fox Valley on Saturday. The Thunder won with scores of 4-3 and 7-4.

Carter Campbell had six goals on the day while Liam Hofer (3), Liam Kegley (2) and Henry Schutt (1) scored as well.

The Squirt B team will take part in the WAHA Squirt 10U 3B State Tournament March 4-5 in Somerset, Wis.

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