Click the thgumbnails to see photos and videos, and hear comments from Emeralds Coach Mike Evink.
ALPENA---The Manistique High School hockey team picked up its second win of the season on Saturday, beating the Tri-Valley Thunder from the Saginaw-Bay City area, 5-1, at the Northern Lights Arena in Alpena.
It was a welcome victory for an Emeralds team that had entered the game with a 1-8-1 record, having been outscored, 53-20.
“That feels good,” Emeralds Coach Mike Evink said. “The boys deserved that one. I told them that if they kept the effort up and did the right things, it's really really hard for the other team to score when the puck's 200 feet away from our goalie. They did a pretty good job today.”
Ajay Berger scored twice to lead the way, and nearly got a hat trick but was stopped on a breakaway in the third period by goaltender Noah Wakefield, who is from Clio High School. Carter Lavigne had a goal and two assists for the Emeralds, and Luke Guebkert scored twice.
Jackson Goudreau stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced between the pipes.
Preston Pudvan scored the only goal for Tri-Valley (6-5-0), which has 13 schools in its co-op, with players on the roster from seven of them.
Evink says getting that first goal from Berger in the opening period was huge.
“It was a big confidence boost for the boys,” he said. “We've got a lot of young kids, a lot of first-time varsity players. I told them that they deserve to be here, this is where they belong, and just to keep working, keep grinding.”
The Emeralds have one more hockey game in 2024: a make-up game Monday night in Kingsford against the Flivvers. This could very well be a preview of a first-round playoff match-up between the teams.
“I'm looking forward to it,” Evink said. “We've always had good games in the past with Kingsford. I really hope to carry the momentum from this weekend. I think this is good for the kids. Just keep playing hockey. We're going to keep working, and keep getting better, and we'll see where we end up at the end of the year.”
