Wunder Scores Three As Eskymos Beat Cheboygan

As soon as he saw the puck cross the goal line, he stopped for a moment and accepted congratulations from his teammates.

Then, he skated as hard as he's ever skated to get to the Eskymo bench, where high-fives were waiting for him and his linemates.

It was Williams' first goal as an Eskymo, and it was icing on the cake for the team.

"It felt amazing," said Williams, who's older brother Joe served as the team's manager several years ago. "It's just....I still can't believe it. There was a scrum in front of the net. The puck was on the rear end of the goalie, by his skates.

"I just pulled it out and managed to put it in," Williams added. "I've had some great games here (at MTU) before, but this is special."

Williams was chosen as the game's #3 star. Freshman Chris LeMire, got the game's #1 star as he also scored his first-ever Eskymo goal. And then he added a second one.

"It feels great to finally get that (not scoring) off my back," LeMire said. "Just keep going hard." His first goal gave Escanaba a 1-0 lead late in the first period.

"(Nick) Aird threw it out front and I had the perfect rebound," LeMire said. "I just had to tap it in."

LeMire also scored in the second period as part of a six goal Eskymo outburst that turned a 2-0 lead after one period into an 8-0 mercy-shortened win after two.

It wasn't only the freshmen and sophpomores who came through Friday night.

Levi Wunder scored three goals in the second period for another hat trick. Two of the goals were scored 20 seconds apart to give the Eskymos a 4-0 lead, prompting Cheboygan to replace goaltender Quaid Brooks with fellow senior Kaleb Wood.

Wunder has now scored 18 goals in 11 games so far this season.

Derek Chaillier and Dan Ritter also scored for the Eskymos, who improved to 8-3 on the season. Cheboygan's record fell to 5-8.

Painesdale-Jeffers beat Grand Blanc, 4-3, in the second game Friday night.

Escanaba will face Grand Blanc Saturday afternoon at 12:30 at Michigan Tech University's Student Ice Arena. The game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. Cheboygan and Jeffers will play Saturday at 2:30.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see videos and photos from the game taken by Mary Gauthier, and listen to radio replays and interviews.