WELLS---The Escanaba Eskymos had plenty of opportunities to grab the advantage during their hockey game against the Houghton Gremlins Friday night. But Houghton goaltender Marcus Gloss was strong early in the game and the Gremlins took control as the contest went on, leading to a 4-0 Houghton victory at the Wells Sports Complex.
Marcus Gloss made 24 saves in net for the Gremlins, and 14 of them came in the first period. He stopped Hunter LaMarch and Dylan Gauthier on point-blank scoring chances, and he also blanked Levi Wunder on a couple of opportunities.
"Their goaltender played well," Escanaba Coach Matt Hughes said. "We jumped on them right away. That was part of the game plan. They played last night (against Kingsford) and they had to travel. Unfortuately, we couldn't capitalize and come out on top."
Cale Markham scored on the power play 5:56 into the game as he appeared to fan on his shot, and that was enough to get it past Eskymo goaltender Jack Valentine. The Eskymos killed off the rest of Paul Carne's five-minute major boarding penalty, and then they carried the play to the Gremlins, only to be turned away by Gloss time after time.
In the second period, Reid Pietila scored at the 9:46 mark after the Eskymos failed to clear the zone. And Houghton seemed to take over control of the game, outshooting the Eskymos, 14-1, throughout the second half of the second period.
Valentine made several good saves to keep it a 2-0 game, and then the Eskymos got a power play chance early in the third period. But the hopes of getting back into the game were stopped as the Houghton defense did a nice job in the neutral zone.
Houghton got its fifth power play of the game in the third period, and Markham cashed in for his second goal of the game at the 4:11 mark.
Jacob Kruse scored Houghton's final goal less than three minutes later. Houghton outshot Escanaba, 32-24, in the contest.
"They did a good job and kept us to the outside for the most part," Hughes said. "Our passing was not up to par today. Passing or receiving. I think that was detremental to our play tonight. Way too many bad passes. The kids know that. We just weren't on our game tonight. I don't think it was our best effort."
With the win, Houghton stayed undefeated in the Great Lakes Hockey Conference at 9-0 (13-2-2 overall). Escanaba fell to 12-5-1, and 4-5 in conference play.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos taken by Lisa Dagenais, videos taken by Mike Dagenais, and listen to interviews.
"Their goaltender played well," Escanaba Coach Matt Hughes said. "We jumped on them right away. That was part of the game plan. They played last night (against Kingsford) and they had to travel. Unfortuately, we couldn't capitalize and come out on top."
Cale Markham scored on the power play 5:56 into the game as he appeared to fan on his shot, and that was enough to get it past Eskymo goaltender Jack Valentine. The Eskymos killed off the rest of Paul Carne's five-minute major boarding penalty, and then they carried the play to the Gremlins, only to be turned away by Gloss time after time.
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Valentine made several good saves to keep it a 2-0 game, and then the Eskymos got a power play chance early in the third period. But the hopes of getting back into the game were stopped as the Houghton defense did a nice job in the neutral zone.
Jacob Kruse scored Houghton's final goal less than three minutes later. Houghton outshot Escanaba, 32-24, in the contest.
"They did a good job and kept us to the outside for the most part," Hughes said. "Our passing was not up to par today. Passing or receiving. I think that was detremental to our play tonight. Way too many bad passes. The kids know that. We just weren't on our game tonight. I don't think it was our best effort."
With the win, Houghton stayed undefeated in the Great Lakes Hockey Conference at 9-0 (13-2-2 overall). Escanaba fell to 12-5-1, and 4-5 in conference play.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos taken by Lisa Dagenais, videos taken by Mike Dagenais, and listen to interviews.
