HANCOCK---Just how close was it?
The Escanaba-Hancock high school hockey game literally went down to the wire Saturday afternoon at the Houghton County Arena.
With Hancock clinging to a 3-2 lead, the Eskymos appeared to score the tying goal as Calvin Pinar ripped one home after Derek Chaillier's shot hit the glass and bounced right to him. But it was waived off. The goal came, literally, a split-second too late.
The Bulldogs held on for the win to move into second place in the Great Lakes Hockey Conference. Eskymo Hockey Coach Matt Hughes agreed that the goal came too late. He was hoping for more time on the clock after a previous "false start" on the puck drop.
"I was trying to talk the ref into putting five seconds on there instead of 4.8," Hughes said.
"If we would have had two-tenths of a second more, we would have tied the game on and went into overtime," Hughes continued. "I talked to the ref, and he said that as soon as he (Pinar) took the shot, the buzzer rang. We weren't very far away from tying that game up."
Hughes said that it never should have come down to that last play, however.
He said that his team's passing was off, with not very many tape-to-tape passes all afternoon long. But the first-year coach was happy to see his guys did not give up when they got behind.
"They were faced with adversity a few times during the game and they responded well to it," Hughes said. "I told them between periods that it's 'how you respond to what's going on out there'. You can't hang you head, you can't complain, you can't come back to the bench and slam your stick and complain about this person and that person. You have to take responsibility for what you do out there and hold yourself accountable."
After a scoreless first period, Hancock got what would turn out to be the biggest play of the game: a penalty shot.
With the game 0-0 midway through the second period, the Bulldogs poured it on during a power play. The puck was in the blue paint in front of goaltender Nick LeMire, and someone covered it with his glove.
Brett Lepisto got the penalty shot and scored to make it 1-0 for Hancock.
"I thought for sure he had that penalty shot," Hughes said. "He squared up on the kid perfectly. But he must have snuck it under his leg pad or something."
Later in the period, Zach Ahola's power play goal made it a 2-0 Hancok lead.
The Eskymos began the third period with a long 5-on-3 power play chance, but could not score. And with one second left with the man-advantage, Levi Wunder scored.
That made it 2-1, but the Eskymos gave up the momentum moments later when Hunter Kero and Lepisto came in on a 2-on-1. Kero's pass to Lepisto was a good one, and Lepisto's goal made it 3-1. Lepisto was picked the game's #1 star.
Escanaba did not give up, as the team's third line came through with a goal less than three minutes later. Dylan Gauthier went in on a 2-on-1 and made a nice pass to Nick Aird.
Aird smacked it home, bringing Escanaba to within a goal.
But down the stretch, the Eskymos could not get that tying goal, and had to settle for a split on the weekend, after Friday's win in Calumet
(READ CALUMET GAME STORY HERE ).
"We were fighting it the whole game, right from the start," Hughes said. "Things weren't clicking right. When these guys are 'on', they're a great hockey team to watch. It's irritating watching from the bench when they're not on, because they're so much better than what they showed. But, we did start making a comeback, and we were just two-tenths of a second short."
Hancock (14-6-3) outshot Escanaba, 35-21 in the game. LeMire was chosen the game's #2 star for his 32-save performance. "He gave us a chance in this game," Hughes said.
Escanaba (14-7-3) closes the regular season this Thursday night in Kingsford. Game time is 7:00 ET. It will be broadcast on WCHT-AM (600), and on www.rrnsports.com.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Rick Aird, and to listen to radio replays from the game.
The Escanaba-Hancock high school hockey game literally went down to the wire Saturday afternoon at the Houghton County Arena.
With Hancock clinging to a 3-2 lead, the Eskymos appeared to score the tying goal as Calvin Pinar ripped one home after Derek Chaillier's shot hit the glass and bounced right to him. But it was waived off. The goal came, literally, a split-second too late.
"I was trying to talk the ref into putting five seconds on there instead of 4.8," Hughes said.
"If we would have had two-tenths of a second more, we would have tied the game on and went into overtime," Hughes continued. "I talked to the ref, and he said that as soon as he (Pinar) took the shot, the buzzer rang. We weren't very far away from tying that game up."
Hughes said that it never should have come down to that last play, however.
He said that his team's passing was off, with not very many tape-to-tape passes all afternoon long. But the first-year coach was happy to see his guys did not give up when they got behind.
Eskymos Score At End....but too late.
With the game 0-0 midway through the second period, the Bulldogs poured it on during a power play. The puck was in the blue paint in front of goaltender Nick LeMire, and someone covered it with his glove.
Brett Lepisto got the penalty shot and scored to make it 1-0 for Hancock.
"I thought for sure he had that penalty shot," Hughes said. "He squared up on the kid perfectly. But he must have snuck it under his leg pad or something."
Later in the period, Zach Ahola's power play goal made it a 2-0 Hancok lead.
Levi Wunder goal makes it 1-2.
That made it 2-1, but the Eskymos gave up the momentum moments later when Hunter Kero and Lepisto came in on a 2-on-1. Kero's pass to Lepisto was a good one, and Lepisto's goal made it 3-1. Lepisto was picked the game's #1 star.
Aird smacked it home, bringing Escanaba to within a goal.
But down the stretch, the Eskymos could not get that tying goal, and had to settle for a split on the weekend, after Friday's win in Calumet
(READ CALUMET GAME STORY HERE ).
"We were fighting it the whole game, right from the start," Hughes said. "Things weren't clicking right. When these guys are 'on', they're a great hockey team to watch. It's irritating watching from the bench when they're not on, because they're so much better than what they showed. But, we did start making a comeback, and we were just two-tenths of a second short."
Hancock scores on penalty shot
Escanaba (14-7-3) closes the regular season this Thursday night in Kingsford. Game time is 7:00 ET. It will be broadcast on WCHT-AM (600), and on www.rrnsports.com.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Rick Aird, and to listen to radio replays from the game.
Escanaba senior Steve Wood pleads his case but the ruling of 'no goal' stood at the end of Saturday's game.
