CHELSEA, Mich.---The Escanaba High School hockey team carried a 2-0 lead into the third period Saturday, but Berkley scored a pair of goals less than two minutes apart to force a 2-2 tie at the Public High School Hockey Showcase in Chelsea.
"Very frustrating," Eskymo Coach Matt Hughes said. "We were were going into that period with a 2-0 lead and we knew that we couldn't just sit back on our heels. We wanted to get one or two more (goals), but in the back of our minds, we knew that we had to play defense as well.
"It's a little bit disappointing."
Escanaba finished the 59-team tournament with a 1-1-1 record.
CLICK HERE to see information about Thursday's Escanaba-Farmington game.
CLICK HERE to see information about Friday's Escanaba-Marysville game.
In Saturday's contest, the Eskymos got into a hole in the first period when both Levi Wunder and Steve Wood were called for penalties on the same play.
That put the Bears onto a 5-on-3 power play for a solid two minutes, but Escanaba goaltender Nick LeMire made four saves to keep it scoreless.
Then late in the period, Eskymo freshman Chris LeMire scored a goal off the glove of goalie Rob MacDonald.
Escanaba was outshot, 15-6, in that period, but Nick LeMire stopped all of them.
In the second period, Escanaba carried much of the play, and senior T.J. Myrick was the catalyst. He won the faceoff in the offensive zone and defenseman Calvin Pinar blasted one past MacDonald to put the Eskymos in front, 2-0, after 34 minutes of play.
But in the third period, the Eskymos had a couple of breakdowns, and they paid for it in both situations. Escanaba had the puck in the Berkley zone, but the pass to Jeff Lyle at the blue line hopped over his stick. Berkley's Ian Melrose got the puck and came in on a breakaway. He deked Nick LeMire, then went to his backhand for a top-shelf goal.
That happened with 10:58 left in the third period. And the Bears carried their momentum to a tying goal less than two minutes later.
They went in on a 4-on-2 break, and defenseman Shane Goldberg went around an Eskymo defenseman and fired it into the net. With 9:31 left in the game, Escanaba's lead was suddenly gone.
"We didn't play the body," Hughes said of that play.
The game stayed tied after regulation time, and so the teams played a five-minute overtime period.
Late in that period, it looked like the Eskymos would win when Steve Wood got the puck in a point-blank shooting position.
MacDonald made the save.
"He made a good save," Hughes said. "We put a lot of pressure on in that overtime period. We had a lot of chances and we through some different line combinations together, to run two lines together in overtime. Their goalie played well."
As the overtime period ended, Nick LeMire had to step up again as the Eskymos turned it over. He made the save with two seconds left, ending the game in a 2-2 tie.
Berkley outshot Escanaba, 30-22.
"It's not all bad that you can take from this," Hughes said. "The kids played hard. We controlled the play a lot. We were in their zone a lot. I was impressed with our fore-check. We held the puck in the offensive zone for quite some periods of time."
Nick LeMire made 28 saves and earned the game's #3 star. Melrose, with a goal and an assist for Berkley, was picked the game's #2 star. Amd Myrick, who assisted on both Eskymo goals, was given the game's #1 star.
Escanaba (12-6-3) will play a make-up game Tuesday night against the Negaunee Miners at the Wells Sports Complex. It will be Senior Night, as well as Gladstone Night, honoring the hockey program's co-op with the Gladstone High School.
Game time is 7:00. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Mary Gauthier, and to listen to radio replays and interviews with Coach Matt Hughes and Eskymo freshman Paul Carne.
Paul Carne player spotlight interview
"It's a little bit disappointing."
Escanaba finished the 59-team tournament with a 1-1-1 record.
CLICK HERE to see information about Thursday's Escanaba-Farmington game.
CLICK HERE to see information about Friday's Escanaba-Marysville game.
In Saturday's contest, the Eskymos got into a hole in the first period when both Levi Wunder and Steve Wood were called for penalties on the same play.
Then late in the period, Eskymo freshman Chris LeMire scored a goal off the glove of goalie Rob MacDonald.
Escanaba was outshot, 15-6, in that period, but Nick LeMire stopped all of them.
In the second period, Escanaba carried much of the play, and senior T.J. Myrick was the catalyst. He won the faceoff in the offensive zone and defenseman Calvin Pinar blasted one past MacDonald to put the Eskymos in front, 2-0, after 34 minutes of play.
But in the third period, the Eskymos had a couple of breakdowns, and they paid for it in both situations. Escanaba had the puck in the Berkley zone, but the pass to Jeff Lyle at the blue line hopped over his stick. Berkley's Ian Melrose got the puck and came in on a breakaway. He deked Nick LeMire, then went to his backhand for a top-shelf goal.
Calvin Pinar goal makes it 2-0
They went in on a 4-on-2 break, and defenseman Shane Goldberg went around an Eskymo defenseman and fired it into the net. With 9:31 left in the game, Escanaba's lead was suddenly gone.
"We didn't play the body," Hughes said of that play.
Late in that period, it looked like the Eskymos would win when Steve Wood got the puck in a point-blank shooting position.
MacDonald made the save.
"He made a good save," Hughes said. "We put a lot of pressure on in that overtime period. We had a lot of chances and we through some different line combinations together, to run two lines together in overtime. Their goalie played well."
As the overtime period ended, Nick LeMire had to step up again as the Eskymos turned it over. He made the save with two seconds left, ending the game in a 2-2 tie.
Berkley outshot Escanaba, 30-22.
"It's not all bad that you can take from this," Hughes said. "The kids played hard. We controlled the play a lot. We were in their zone a lot. I was impressed with our fore-check. We held the puck in the offensive zone for quite some periods of time."
Chris LeMire goal makes it 1-0
Escanaba (12-6-3) will play a make-up game Tuesday night against the Negaunee Miners at the Wells Sports Complex. It will be Senior Night, as well as Gladstone Night, honoring the hockey program's co-op with the Gladstone High School.
Game time is 7:00. It will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Mary Gauthier, and to listen to radio replays and interviews with Coach Matt Hughes and Eskymo freshman Paul Carne.
Escanaba's Quintin McCarthy (20) checks Berkley's Zach Segall (19) during Saturday's game.
