SEVEN-UP! Eskymos All Chip In For Series Sweep

Click HERE for all of the details from Friday's Eskymo win.

WELLS----Seven different boys scored goals on Saturday afternoon as the Escanaba High School hockey team completed a weekend sweep of the Alpena Wildcats, 7-0, at the Wells Sports Complex. Escanaba also won Friday night's game, 7-1.

Levi Wunder had a goal and three assists while Nick Aird added three helpers.

"It was a successful team effort," Escanaba Hockey Coach Matt Hughes said. "It's always a good mix to get everyone in the game, everyone's scoring goals, everyone's in on the assists, chipping in. It was fun to watch. We scored four goals in the second period."

Each team had a power play early in the game, but failed to score. And the Eskymos lost assistant captain Charlie Zuidema to injury when he was checked from behind at center ice just minutes into the game. No penalty was called.

"The referees told our captains that all checking from behind's were getting called," Hughes said. "Cross-checking are getting called. Boardings, too. It's about the protecti0n of the players."

"Well, we had that incident that happened today, and there was no call at all," Hughes continued. "That was a rule change for this year. It was going to be called all over the ice. Unfortunately, we had a player get hurt, and there was no consequence for it."

Zuidema ended up with a relatively-minor hamstring injury when he landed weird after taking the unexpected hit. But that did not subdue Hughes' feelings on the no-call.

"He's alright," Hughes said. "It's not anything to do with his knee or ankle. It might be a sprain or a strain of his hamstring, so he should be good to go."

Dylan Gauthier goal

Escanaba scored first when defenseman Matt Casey got the outlet pass to Hunter LaMarch, who made a nice pass to linemate Dylan Gauthier.

Gauthier, who had missed two open nets earlier by shooting wide and hitting the post, buried this one for a 1-0 Eskymo lead.

Later in the period, Gauthier set up Wunder for a top-shelf goal, making it 2-0.

But in the dressing room during the intermission, Hughes made it clear that he was not pleased with the missed offensive scoring chances. And the boys came out focused, scoring a pair of goals 25 seconds apart early in the second period.

First, defenseman Calvin Pinar made a strong move into the Alpena zone and after his shot was stopped, 5-foot-5 Jack Williams was there for the rebound goal.

"Well, I got to play, so that's one thing," Williams smiled. "I'm not used to that, since last year, I played like five games on the fourth line. It was amazing playing with Levi and Chris (LeMire). I got to get the puck, move the puck. It was just like any other goal I got last year. I was in just in the right position at the very last possible second, with a stick in the lane."

Blaine Borman Goal

Then, off the ensuing faceoff, Wunder made another of his elite offensive zone plays, fighting off defenders and getting the puck to the net.

Blaine Borman, who missed Friday night's game with a bum ankle, knocked home the rebound to make it 4-0.

Alpena then got into penalty trouble, and the Wildcats were down two men a few moments after Borman's goal. And it was Wunder, again, who set up a wide-open Pinar for the power-play goal, as Gauthier screened the helpless Wildcat goaltender.

Escanaba's lead grew to 6-0 six minutes later as rookie Garth Wickham used his large frame to cause havoc in front of the Alpena net.

Freshman Gavin Schwalbach swooped in for the Wickham pass and scored his first Eskymo goal.

Wickham was happy to use his size to create a scoring chance for Schwalbach.

"It's fast-paced, a lot of fun being in front of your hometown," Wickham said. "I like to play my game. I got a nice pass from (Kyle) Egner for the break-out and Gavin did the perfect middle-in drive, and I just fed him the puck."

Escanaba outshot Alpena, 32-10, in the first two periods, with Wildcat g0altender Derek VanVlerah doing all he could to prevent this game from ending on the mercy rule.

Gavin Schwalbach Escanaba Goal

In the third period, LaMarch was set up nicely by Nick Aird for a goal just 38 seconds into the period. That made it 7-0, but Hughes, despite wanting to end the game on the mercy rule, made sure that everyone played.

Besides Wunder's four points and Aird's three-assist playmaker, Pinar and LaMarch each had a goal and an assist. And Escanaba goaltender Jack Valentine stopped all 14 shots that he faced for a shutout. He stopped 16 of 17 shots in Friday's win as well.

SATURDAY'S OTHER U.P. HOCKEY SCORES---Marquette opened its season with a 4-2 win over Hancock at Lakeview Arena...Kingsford opened its season with an 8-0 mercy win over Petoskey in Iron Mountain...In Sault Ste. Marie, the Blue Devils hosted a showcase tournament, and beat White Lake Lakeland, 3-2, on Saturday. Also at that tournament, Painesdale-Jeffers beat Big Rapids, 5-4, at Pullar Stadium.

NEXT UP FOR THE ESKYMOS---Escanaba will travel to Iron Mountain Tuesday night for its conference opener against the Kingsford Flivvers. Game time is 7:00 ET. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and more videos taken by Mary Gauthier. You can also hear more radio replays from the game, and listen to more player and coach's interviews.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

11/21	7:00 PM	Alpena Wildcats	7 - 1 (W)	1-0

11/22	1:00 PM	Alpena Wildcats	7 - 0 (W)	2-0

11/25	7:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	4 - 2 (W)	3-0

11/29	1:00 PM	Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	3 - 3 (T)	3-0-1

12/2	7:00 PM	at Marquette Redmen	4 - 1 (W)	4-0-1

12/8	7:00 PM	Negaunee Miners	9 - 1 (W)	5-0-1

12/13	1:00 PM	at Hancock Bulldogs	3 - 7 (L)	5-1-1

12/19	7:00 PM	at Houghton Gremlins	3 - 6 (L)	5-2-1

12/26	7:00 PM	Painesdale-Jeffers Jets	9 - 3 (W)	6-2-1

12/27	1:00 PM	Painesdale-Jeffers Jets	5 - 1 (W)	7-2-1

1/2	6:00 PM	Cheboygan Chiefs	6 - 2 (W)	8-2-1

1/3	1:00 PM	at Pinckney Pirates	7 - 4 (W)	9-2-1

1/16	8:15 PM	at Bay City Central Wolves	4 - 2 (W)	10-2-1

1/17	12:00 PM	at Macomb Dakota	4 - 2 (W)	11-2-1

1/20	7:00 PM	Marquette Redmen	0 - 2 (L)	11-3-1

1/22	7:00 PM	at Calumet Copper Kings	3 - 4 OT (L)	11-4-1

1/27	7:00 PM	Kingsford Flivvers	5 - 2 (W)	12-4-1

1/30	7:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	0 - 4 (L)	12-5-1

1/31	1:00 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	0 - 1 OT (L)	12-6-1

2/5	6:00 PM	at Novi High School	3 - 5 (L)	12-7-1

2/6	6:15 PM	at Woodhaven High School	3 - 5 (L)	12-8-1

2/7	2:15 PM	at Berkley-Ferndale United	6 - 3 (W)	13-8-1

2/12	7:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	5 - 6 (L)	13-9-1

2/20	7:00 PM	Calumet Copper Kings	4 - 3 OT (W)	14-9-1

2/21	1:00 PM	Hancock Bulldogs	2 - 4 (L)	14-10-1

3/3	7:00 PM	Negaunee Miners	3 - 0 (W)	15-10-1

3/5	7:00 PM	at Marquette Redmen	4 - 2 (W)	16-10-1

3/7	1:00 PM	Bay Area Thunder Hockey	8 - 0 (W)	17-10-1

3/10	7:00 PM	Traverse City Central Trojans	7 - 3 (W)	18-10-1

3/12	5:00 PM	Livonia Stevenson Spartans	2 - 3 (L)	18-11-1