Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Eskymo Coach Andy Johnson. Also listen to player spotlight interviews with Alex Schwalbach and Davin Mattonen.
ALPENA---The Escanaba High School hockey team could not get a puck past Alpena senior goaltender Aidan Schultz Tuesday night and the Eskymos fell to the seventh-ranked Wildcats, 5-0, at the Northern Lights Arena.
It was a second straight win for Schultz against the Eskymos, after he stood on his head in a 3-2 shootout win last December in this same tournament.
At the other end of the ice, Escanaba freshman goaltender Cully Hayes did the best he could, especially early in the game, before giving a couple of "out-of-position" goals. Still, he stopped 23 of the 28 shots he faced, and very few of them were low-percentage shots.
Escanaba Coach Andy Johnson was not unhappy with his team's performance.
"I think our defensemen were good on the rush, and we didn't give them many chances on the rush," Johnson said. "We were just a step behind in winning the battles in the corners, or winning the races to the corners."
"But other than that, our guys were picking guys up. You've got to give it to Alpena. They are a quick, hard-working team. And their goaltending is very good. I mean, he's just good. You're not gonna get many by him."
In this case, the Eskymos didn't get any by Schultz, and the Wildcats, ranked seventh in the state in Division Two, improved to 8-2-0 on the season.
Escanaba, coming off a satisfying road win at Hancock, fell to 5-4-0 on the season.
The first period was a scoreless draw, but Alpena had a 41-second carryover power play to start the second period. The Eskymos killed off 40 of those seconds, but the Wildcats' top line of Anden Marceau and Harrison Kaszubowski won a big offensive zone faceoff and Reid Meinhardt cashed in for the first goal of the game. Meinhardt had two goals on the evening.
Hayes was shaken up late in the second period when he got hit in the goal crease by Alpena's Cam Young (who was also tangled up with an Eskymo player). Hayes' ankle got twisted as he landed near the far goalpost. After a delay for the trainers to check him out, Hayes continued playing. He is, after all, Escanaba's only goaltender.
"I looked at Graham (his freshman son, who is a center) on the bench and the kids were laughing that he might need to go in," Johnson said. "Graham was sweating it. But Cully toughed it out. He did a nice job. He played out of his mind and kept us in the game."
Alpena ended up outshooting Escanaba, 28-18, including 11-4 in the third period.
Earlier in this six-team showcase, the Manistique Emeralds mercied Dexter, 13-4, and the Capital City Capitals out of Lansing blanked Cheboygan, 5-0.
There will be three more games on Wednesday, starting with the Eskymos and the Dexter Dreadnaughts. The game starts at 11:00 a.m. and will be broadcast on WCHT-FM/AM (93.5/600) and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
ALPENA---The Escanaba High School hockey team could not get a puck past Alpena senior goaltender Aidan Schultz Tuesday night and the Eskymos fell to the seventh-ranked Wildcats, 5-0, at the Northern Lights Arena.
It was a second straight win for Schultz against the Eskymos, after he stood on his head in a 3-2 shootout win last December in this same tournament.
Escanaba Coach Andy Johnson was not unhappy with his team's performance.
"I think our defensemen were good on the rush, and we didn't give them many chances on the rush," Johnson said. "We were just a step behind in winning the battles in the corners, or winning the races to the corners."
"But other than that, our guys were picking guys up. You've got to give it to Alpena. They are a quick, hard-working team. And their goaltending is very good. I mean, he's just good. You're not gonna get many by him."
In this case, the Eskymos didn't get any by Schultz, and the Wildcats, ranked seventh in the state in Division Two, improved to 8-2-0 on the season.
Escanaba, coming off a satisfying road win at Hancock, fell to 5-4-0 on the season.
Hayes was shaken up late in the second period when he got hit in the goal crease by Alpena's Cam Young (who was also tangled up with an Eskymo player). Hayes' ankle got twisted as he landed near the far goalpost. After a delay for the trainers to check him out, Hayes continued playing. He is, after all, Escanaba's only goaltender.
"I looked at Graham (his freshman son, who is a center) on the bench and the kids were laughing that he might need to go in," Johnson said. "Graham was sweating it. But Cully toughed it out. He did a nice job. He played out of his mind and kept us in the game."
Alpena ended up outshooting Escanaba, 28-18, including 11-4 in the third period.
Earlier in this six-team showcase, the Manistique Emeralds mercied Dexter, 13-4, and the Capital City Capitals out of Lansing blanked Cheboygan, 5-0.
There will be three more games on Wednesday, starting with the Eskymos and the Dexter Dreadnaughts. The game starts at 11:00 a.m. and will be broadcast on WCHT-FM/AM (93.5/600) and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
