Goddard Unbeatable As Eskymos Top Redmen, 1-0

MARQUETTE---If Escanaba Eskymo goaltenders could play against the Marquette Redmen, and play all of their games at Lakeview Arena, the Eskymos would never lose.

Think Jared Nordin. Think Austin Young. Think Matt Hampton. Think Nick LeMire. Think Jack Valentine. Even think back to old man Pat Goddard. All had success here.

Well, the string of dominant goaltender performances continued Tuesday night as Brodie Goddard stopped 35 shots and led the Eskymos to a 1-0 win over the Redmen.

"After being 0-3, to come into Marquette, and play in this arena against one of your rivals, the kids really stepped up," Escanaba Coach Matt Hughes said.

Freshman Grant Wickham scored the only goal, 4:48 into the contest.

"It was a good play by Christer Carne," Wickham said. "He was grinding along the boards, and the puck just hopped out and I just shot it."

After Wickham scored, Goddard was tested right away as Marquette got five shots on goal during a power play.

"When I was out there, I was just thinking about one shot at a time," Goddard said. "Like, I'm not thinking about the next period, and I'm not thinking about the shutout."

The second period was even tougher for Goddard, as Marquette had a 12-3 shots advantage. He stopped all of them, many from in close.

In the third period, Goddard stopped Sean O'Connor on a breakaway. Huge save.

"I felt it under my pad and I knew I had it," Goddard said. "I wasn't looking at the puck. I was looking at the ice, and where the puck was. He tried to pull something on me, but it didn't work. I just watched him, and saw him going for my glove, so I slid over there and tried to put as much of my body as I could in front of him."

"Brodie stepped up, and unfortunately, we got caught up in some penalty troubles," Hughes said. "He was able to stand tall during that. Their first line was really good for them, I thought."

"They created a lot of chances and had us on our heels. But Brodie played great. He made some great saves."

Escanaba nearly scored on a Marquette power play as Chris LeMire made a nice move and walked in shorthanded. But his shot hit the goal post and bounced away.

Marquette pulled its goalie with 1:17 left in the game for an extra attacker, but didn't get a stong scoring opportunity as the Eskymos clamped down on defense.

The teams combined to go 0-for-11 on the power play. Marquette outshot Esky, 35-16.

It was a big win for Escanaba, after the Eskymos lost their first three games of the season, all by one goal, after having the lead in all three games. Marquette is now 1-1.

Escanaba is on the road again on Saturday, with a game against Houghton. Game time from Dee Stadium is 1:00. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600).

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to hear a replay of Wickham's goal, listen to interveiws, see photos taken by Randy Ritari, and see video highlights taken by Sandi Young.