CLEAN SWEEP! Eskymos Rally To Win Trophy 6-4

WAUKESHA, Wis.---The Escanaba High School hockey team rallied from three goals down Wednesday night to beat KMMO (Kettle-Morraine/Mukwonago/Oconomowoc), 6-4, to win the championship of the Puck Jam Holiday Classic in suburban Milwaukee.

Garth Wickham scored a hat trick, with his third goal breaking a 4-4 tie with 1:53 left in the game. Chris LeMire then iced the game with an insurance goal 26 seconds later.

KMMO scored three goals in the first period, by Ben Morse, Alex Stemberger, and Jack Smith. But the Eskymos got back in the game with a pair of power play goals in the second period, with Wickham scoring just 27 seconds into the period.

Colton Hayes tallied six minutes later to cut it to 3-2, then Wickham scored an even-strength goal to tie it up.

In the third period, LeMire scored at the 2:15 mark to give the Eskymos their first lead, but KMMO tied it up on a goal by defenseman Malloy Murphy.

That set up the final Eskymo rally, preventing an overtime period on an already-long evening. The game was scheduled to start at 8:00 (9:00 back in the U.P.), but the game started even later than that. The team then began a long, overnight bus ride home.

Besides Wickham's three goals, LeMire scored twice and added an assist. Hayes had an assist to go along with his goal. Brodie Goddard stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced.

KMMO outshot Escanaba, 36-23, but Goddard and the Eskymos got their third win in as many days to bring home the tournament trophy.

Escanaba finishes the 2016 portion of its schedule with a 5-6-0 record. The Eskymos is off for the first two weeks of January, before going to a tournament in Traverse City.

Our thanks to Sandi Young for the photos.