Mercy! Eskymos, Jets Cruise To Hockey Victories

WELLS----The Escanaba Eskymos won their fifth straight game Friday night, turning back the Monroe (Wis.) Avalanche, 9-1, at the Wells Sports Complex. It was Escanaba's fourth straight victory via the mercy rule, as the game ended after two periods of play.

But Escanaba Coach Tim McCarthy was not totally pleased with the effort.

EHS Rookie Matt Casey (5) plays the puck.

"I think we were a little bit in the Christmas-mode," McCarthy said. "That's a tough thing, with the holidays, and the kids don't have the same schedule they normally do. They practice at noon, there's no school. We had a very slow start."

Levi Wunder scored four goals, including a "natural hat trick" in the third period.

Wunder also added a pair of assists. Nick Vandermissen added a goal and four assists for five points, and Derek Chaillier had another playmaker with three assists.

Escanaba led, 3-0, after the first 17 minutes as Jake Eastin and Vandermissen scored power play goals and freshman Nick Aird scored his first varsity goal.

Esky's Nick Aird gets first goal.

"I just came in the zone, seen it sitting there, and I just shot it into the top-right (corner of the net)," Aird said. "I kind of seen it was open, so I just went for it."

But McCarthy saw some of the same flashes of individualism. Not cool, he says.

"We had the same thing as we've had the past few games," McCarthy said. "We get a little selfish and try to do it all on our own. When we play the game the way it is taught, and do the little things right, we look pretty good. The second period was like that."

Esky's Quintin McCarthy (20) battles Monroe's Jarrett Warden (8).

However, the second period started off poorly for the Eskymos as Monroe's T.J. Parrent made a nice move and beat freshman goalie Jack Valentine to cut the EHS lead to 3-1.

That seemed to be the wake-up call that the Eskymos needed, as they steamrolled their way through the rest of the period.

First, it was Wunder at 3:27. Then, it was Ben Lasecki at 4:26. Next, it was Dan Ritter's first-ever Eskymo goal at 4:54. It was 6-1.

Ritter, who has had knee problems force him to sit several games, was ecstatic.

"It was pretty exciting," Ritter said. "The shot kind of hit me, and I just kept fighting in front of the net and put it in."

(Ritter's goal is in the picture at the top of this page).

"It was very good, awesome for him," McCarthy said. "Anytime you see a kid get his first high school goal, it's great to see and it feels really good."

The Avalanche switched goalies, but it didn't help. Wunder scored three times himself over the rest of the period for a "natural" hat trick. His last goal was his best.

Eskymo sophomore Levi Wunder moves past Monroe's Gus Werhane (11).

"It came out of the (Eskymo) zone straight off the face off," Wunder said. "The kid had probably ten, 15 feet on me, and I just beat him in the puck race. I cut in front of him, poked the puck out, and....'goal scored'!"

"It was his out-hustling (the Monroe player) that did it," McCarthy said. "It was just his determination to get down there, and beat the guy. He did what he needed to do with it."

Valentine made eight saves on nine shots to earn his second varsity win in net. That doesn't sound like many saves, but five of the nine shots were either breakaways or odd-man rushes as Avalanche forwards took advantage of over-anxious Eskymos.

"This will be a good one to watch film on," McCarthy said. "We got greedy. Our defense pitched when they shouldn't have, and we got caught. We got caught on 2-on-1's, and we got beat (Monroe's goal). That's things that you can't do."

The Monroe Avalanche of the Bager South Conference fell to 0-7 on the season.

Escanaba (6-2) hosts Painesdale-Jeffers (5-3) in the championship game on Saturday. Game time is 2:15. The game will be broadcast on WCHT-AM (600) and rrnsports.com.

PAINESDALE-JEFFERS 8, NEGAUNEE 0---In the first game of the tournament, the Miners hung close throughout most of the first period because goaltender Tyler Riutta made save after save after save.

Jets' Travis Wesa scores his second goal.

The Jets threw 27 shots at Riutta's direction in the fist period, and Riutta stopped 24 of them before leaving the game with a groin injury.

Troy Dunstan shot one into the top shelf to give the Jets a 1-0 lead, then late in the period, Travis Wesa scored his first goal of the game to make it 2-0.

The Jets' third goal came as Matt Mantta was taken down as he cut in on the net....Wesa poked in the loose puck.

Jets' Troy Dunstan scores.

In the second period, Wesa completed his "natural hat trick", with Mantta again drawing the assist. Nick Harris scored the Jets' fifth goal, and then Mike Ross made it a 6-0 game against back-up goaltender Tony Moyle.

Mantta scored the Jets' last two goals, and he ended up with five points. Brady Guilbault had a pair of assists, and goaltender Max Durocher earned the shutout. Jeffers (5-3) outshot Negaunee, 43-7, and the game ended after two periods of play.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos aken by Lisa Dagenais, and videos taken by Mike Dagenais. You can also listen to radio replays of some of the Eskymo goals and post-game interviews.

Game Eight: Escanaba Eskymos 9, Monroe Avalanche 1

MONROEWI 0 1 X----1
ESCANABA 3 6 X----9

First Period
ESC 1-0: Eastin 11 (Wunder, Vandermissen) 3:58 PPG
ESC 2-0: Vandermissen 9 (McCarthy, Lyle) 7:27 PPG
ESC 3-0: Aird 1 (Wunder, Chaillier) 12:30

Second Period
MON 1-3: Parrent (Prophett) 1:22
ESC 4-1: Wunder 10 (Pinar, Vandermissen) 3:27
ESC 5-1: Lasecki 4 (Belanger, Chaillier) 4:26
ESC 6-1: Ritter 1 (Aos) 4:54
ESC 7-1: Wunder 11 (Vandermissen, Pinar) 8:18
ESC 8-1: Wunder 12 (Chaillier, Vandermissen) 10:06 PPG
ESC 9-1: Wunder 13 (una) 12:10

Escanaba Penalties (5/10): McCarthy 2 interference; Zuidema 2 head contact; Lasecki 2 head contact; Zuidema 2 slashing; Zuidema 2 roughing.

Monroe Penalties (5/10): Bonjour 2 interference; Werhane 2 unsportsmanlike; Landen 2 head contact; Trickel 2 slashing; Daley 2 roughing.

Power Plays: Escanaba 3/3; Monroe 0/2
Shots on Goal: Escanaba 12-18=30; Monroe 2-7=9.
Three Stars: 1. Wunder, ESC; 2. Ritter, ESC; 3. Aird, ESC.

Eskymo goaltender Jack Valentine makes a save as teammate Jeff Lyle (11) goes down for a blocked shot.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

11/27	7:00 PM	at Marquette Redmen	7 - 5 (W)	1-0

12/5	7:00 PM	Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	1 - 3 (L)	1-1

12/7	7:30 PM	at Macomb Dakota	0 - 8 (L)	1-2

12/8	12:45 PM	at Utica Eisenhower	4 - 1 (W)	2-2

12/14	8:15 PM	Tomahawk, Wis.	9 - 1 (W)	3-2

12/15	2:15 PM	L'Anse Purple Hornets	9 - 1 (W)	4-2

12/18	7:00 PM	Negaunee Miners	9 - 0 (W)	5-2

12/28	8:15 PM	Monroe, Wis.	9 - 1 (W)	6-2

12/29	2:00 PM	Painesdale-Jeffers Jets	9 - 1 (W)	7-2

1/4	6:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	9 - 0 (W)	8-2

1/5	1:30 PM	at Grand Blanc Bobcats	9 - 1 (W)	9-2

1/8	7:00 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	4 - 3 (W)	10-2

1/12	6:00 PM	at Calumet Copper Kings	2 - 5 (L)	10-3

1/15	7:00 PM	Marquette Redmen	3 - 1 (W)	11-3

1/26	7:00 PM	at Cheboygan Chiefs	8 - 0 (W)	12-3

2/1	7:00 PM	Alpena Wildcats	9 - 2 (W)	13-3

2/2	1:00 PM	Alpena Wildcats	6 - 4 (W)	14-3

2/7	8:00 PM	at Hartland Eagles	4 - 2 (W)	15-3

2/8	6:00 PM	at Rochester United	1 - 0 (W)	16-3

2/9	12:30 PM	at Chelsea Bulldogs	6 - 5 (W)	17-3

2/12	7:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	7 - 5 (W)	18-3

2/15	7:00 PM	Calumet Copper Kings	7 - 3 (W)	19-3

2/16	1:00 PM	Hancock Bulldogs	4 - 3 (W)	20-3

2/18	7:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	8 - 0 (W)	21-3

2/21	7:00 PM	Kingsford Flivvers	6 - 3 (W)	22-3

2/26	7:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	8 - 0 (W)	23-3

2/28	7:00 PM	at Marquette Redmen	8 - 0 (W)	24-3

3/2	1:00 PM	Saginaw Heritage Hawks	1 - 2 (L)	24-4