Eskymos Drop Second Game At MPHSH Showcase

CHELSEA, Mich.---The first job was to get on the board, and the Escanaba High School hockey team did that Friday in its MPHSH Showcase game in downstate Chelsea.

Along the way, the biggest job was for the boys to play better than they did in Thursday night's loss...and the boys did that as well. But in the end, the Muskegon Mona Shores Sailors rode the hot goaltending of Anthony Shrum and beat the Eskymos, 4-1.

Escanaba fired 39 shots on goal, but only that one tipped shot by Blaine Rienhart off of a Garth Wickham shot made it into the Mona Shores net. The result left the Eskymos 0-2 in the Showcase, with Saturday's game against Woodhaven still on the schedule.

"We played much better than last night, so that was good to see," Escanaba Coach Matt Hughes said. "The effort was there all night. It was frustrating to get so many chances and not get rewarded. We had 20 shots on goal in the second period. He (Shrum) made some big saves."

"His positioning is real good."

Nick Nawrocki scored a power play goal with 1:13 left in the first period to tie it for Mona Shores (6-10-1), and then Brandon Ledyard banked one off of Eskymo goaltender Brodie Goddard 2:30 into the second period to put the Sailors in front.

Spencer Anderson scored on a bad-angle shot late in the second period, and then Ledyard scored again at the 6:11 mark of the third period to close the scoring.

Escanaba takes on Woodhaven Saturday at 12:00 noon. The game 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 videos taken by Micky LaMarch, and to hear Rease Hubert's interview.

MARQUETTE 3, CHELSEA 3---The Marquette Redmen jumped to a 2-0 lead Friday night, but had to settle for a 3-3 tie with the Chelsea Bulldogs at the Michigan Public School Hockey Showcase in Chelsea. After Chelsea tied the game at 2-2 early in the third period on a Jacob McIntyre goal, Tanner Phillips scored to give the Redmen a 3-2 lead. But McIntyre scored again a minute later, and the Redmen took several penalties and were unable to regain the lead. Marquette faces East Grand Rapids Saturday morning.