Marinette Youth Hockey Association

 

HIGH SCHOOL

The Thunder High School team welcomed Dodgeville and Sault Ste. Marie to the REC Center for a four-game slate.

In Dodgeville (ranked No. 1 in the State) as well as the team’s upcoming contest with Green Bay United (ranked No. 2 in the State), the Thunder are playing “measuring stick” games in advance of the WAHA State Tournament which they will host at the REC Center March 15-17.

The Thunder competed well against a Dodgeville though they came away with a pair of losses (4-2 and 8-2). The home team then took a convincing 6-3 win over Sault Ste. Marie on Sunday before the Soo forfeited game two of a doubleheader.

A shorthanded Thunder team was trounced in two games at Dodgeville two weeks ago. Friday night they were back at full strength and the result was much different.

Ethan King kept Dodgeville off the scoreboard with ten saves in the first period. Dodgeville got a goal early in the second, but Logan Sakovitz answered with a power-play goal off assists from Brayden Rounds and Blue Haley.

The Ice Wolves pushed ahead 3-1, and then knocked in a short-handed goal with just ten seconds to play to carry a 4-1 advantage into the final period.

Still on the same power play, Haley scored just eight seconds into the third period. The Thunder put together several more scoring chances, but Dodgeville goalie Chayse Gilbertson was up to the task as the Ice Wolves held on for a 4-2 win.

King made 26 saves against 30 shots while Gilbertson was good on 23 of the 25 shots he faced.

“Dodgeville is the number one seed in the State,” Thunder coach Fred Haley said. “Friday night we played really well against them and hung right in there. Saturday was a different story. There were a lot of penalties and a lot of things going on that made our game kind of fall apart a little bit. We got out of position at times, but we also competed well for long stretches of the game.”

After playing a relatively clean game with a combined eight penalties Friday night, the same teams met again Saturday morning and combined for 28 infractions.

Although they accrued a whopping 72 penalty minutes on 20 whistles, the Ice Wolves still managed eight goals (three shorthanded) on 26 shots.

The Thunder got an early goal from Theron Thayer off assists from Simon Bowers and Chase Nerat. Addison Lacy beat the buzzer in the third period with another assist from Nerat.

The penalties kept coming on Sunday with the Soo 18U team in town.

The teams combined for another 28 penalties. This time it appeared to be the Soo who came away rattled by the tightly called contest as they racked up 18 penalties and allowed three power-play goals.

“The Soo played a very physical and rough game,” Haley said. “I felt like they were looking for retaliation penalties, and for the most part we kept our heads and did not retaliate a lot. There were some in there, but I felt like the kids played really well. It was just a matter of keeping our tempers in check and coming out with a win.”

Damien Winterbottom got the Thunder on the board first with an early goal.

The Soo tied the game early in the second period, but Rounds capitalized on two power-play opportunities later in the period to put the Thunder back on top at 3-1.

A pair of third-period goals from Haley and another from Winterbottom had the Thunder up 6-2 before the Soo tapped one in with 14 seconds to play accounting for the 6-3 final score.

The Thunder outshot the Soo 41-18. King made 15 saves to preserve the win.

With 1:16 to play, the Soo’s Lucas Gordon and Blue Haley were involved in a scuffle. Haley was whistled for cross checking and game misconduct, giving him four penalties on the day an eliminating him from the contest. Gordon was called for fighting after landing a punch to Haley’s head as well as misconduct and was ejected. The Soo’s Aedin Bowen was also called for misconduct, marking his fourth and final penalty. In addition, both coaches received one-game suspensions for reaching the 12-penalty mark.

The teams were scheduled to play again Sunday afternoon, but the Soo, apparently upset with the officiating, packed their bags, left the REC Center and did not return without explanation resulting in a forfeiture of game two.

“I felt like we skated well all weekend and played well against both teams,” Haley said, “so it was a good test of what’s coming. In two weeks we play Green Bay United which is the number two-team in the State so we will see where we stand against them and see what we can do.”

After it became apparent that the Soo would not return for a second game, the Thunder invited the Association’s youth players who were on hand to join them on the ice for a scrimmage that resulted in some great memories for the area’s younger players.

The Thunder are off this week. They will host Green Bay United on Friday, March 8 and Marquette on Saturday before traveling to Green Bay on Sunday.

BANTAM

The Thunder Bantams had a U.P. road trip that included stops at Calumet and Houghton.

The team dropped both games at Calumet (5-0 and 10-0). They took game one 2-1 against Houghton/Hancock before falling 4-1 in game two.

Wes Baty (2) and Bryce Vincent scored for the Thunder.

The team will travel to Spooner, Wis. for the WAHA 14U 4A State Tournament on Saturday and Sunday. The eighth-seeded Thunder open against top-seeded Burnett at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

PEEWEE A

The Thunder Peewee A team went 3-1 against Manitowoc and Appleton over the Weekend.

After suffering a heartbreaking overtime loss to Manitowoc in a WAHA State playdown game three weeks ago, the Thunder dominated the Breakers with scores of 12-4 and 11-5 at the REC Center on Saturday.

The team then traveled to Appleton on Sunday and split a pair of games with a 9-2 win and a 6-4 loss.

For the weekend, the team got goals from Paker Perket (11), Sullivan Reek (6), Wyatt Kneath (6), Landon Dura (6), Braden Forgette (3), Chet Lacy (1) and Holden Ruiz (1), while Perket (2), Reek, Kneath and Dura all notched hat-tricks and Alex Bird posted a playmaker with three assists against Manitowoc.

Sam McKenney worked the net for all four games and posted a .861 save percentage with 93 saves on 108 shots.

The Thunder will close their season with a U.P. road trip to Houghton and Calumet March 9-10.

PEEWEE B

The Peewee B team went 0-3-1 in four tight games against De Pere and Green Bay at the REC Center this weekend.

De Pere prevailed with scores of 6-3 and 7-4 on Saturday. The Thunder opened with a 9-9 tie against Green Bay on Sunday before the Bobcats took a 7-2 win in game-two.

The team got goals from Calvin Schroeder (12), Jaxon Teteak (6) and Preston Nelson (1).

Madisen Salewsky racked up 101 saves against 130 shots for a save percentage of .777.

The team will play a pair of games at Waupaca on Saturday in their final preparation for the WAHA State Tournament.

SQUIRT A

The Thunder Squirt A team split a doubleheader at Escanaba AA on Saturday. Escanaba took game one 6-5 before the Thunder responded with a 7-4 win.

Carter Campbell scored four goals in the victory while Liam Hofer (2) and Ashton Behrens scored as well. In game one, Carter and Owen Campbell each scored a pair while Henry Karkkainen scored as well.

The Thunder will travel to Altoona, Wis. for the WAHA 10U 4A State Tournament this weekend. The second-seeded Thunder open against seventh-seeded Barron/Chetek at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.

SQUIRT B

The Thunder Squirt B team ripped through the competition at the Breakaway Classic in Wisconsin Dells this weekend. The team defeated Cedar Rapids 9-0, Beloit 8-2 and Appleton 7-2 to take the championship.

Everett Skowlund led the offense with nine goals including a pair of hat tricks against Cedar Rapids and Beloit. Dean Gerondale had six goals on the weekend including a hat trick against Beloit. Maverick Tardiff (5), Ryder Erickson (2), Ty Olsen (1), Hannah Fredericksen (1), Camden Walker (1) and Christopher Sutton (1) also scored for the Thunder while Walker contributed a playmaker against Cedar Rapids.

The Thunder travel to Oshkosh for the WAHA 10U 3B State Tournament this weekend. The third-seeded Thunder open against fourth-seeded Sauk Prairie at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday.