• HS Baseball 4/25: Negaunee 10, Escanaba 9
  • HS Baseball 4/25: Bark River-Harris 11, Superior Central 1
  • HS Softball 4/25: Menominee 15, Bark River-Harris 0
  • HS Softball 4/25: Hancock 12, Norway 2
  • HS Softball 4/25: Houghton 10, Westwood 2
  • HS Baseball 4/25: Traverse City West 9, Sault Ste. Marie 3
  • HS Softball 4/25: Kingsford 15, Marquette 0
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Saturday April 27, 2024
RIVALRY ICE BATTLE: Redmen Edge Eskymos 2-0

Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Dylan Ziemke and Coach Matt Hughes. Also hear player spotlight interviews with Brett Labre and Clayton Smith.

MARQUETTE---The Marquette Redmen overcame 42 saves from Escanaba goaltender Dylan Ziemke to post a 2-0 win over the Eskymos Tuesday night at Lakeview Arena.

Owen Riipi scored both of Marquette's goals.

"I like where we're at," Marquette Coach Doug Garrow said. "I like our goaltending and we have four lines that I think are really playing. We've got a lot of depth on the team, with three really good lines that I think that can score, and a fourth line is playing well defensively and I can trust them any time putting them on the ice. And I like our goaltdending."

"We definitely played a lot better," Escanaba Coach Matt Hughes said, camparing this one to his team's 8-0 loss to the Redmen last Friday. "We played hard and the effort was very good from start to finish."

Marquette won its sixth straight game and improved to 8-2 on the season, beating the Eskymos for the third time thie season.

Escanaba fell to 1-9, but Ziemke made this one tough on the Redmen, as he had a carrer-best night with save after save, many of them from in close.

"It feels pretty great, actually," Ziemke said. "After the Houghton game (a 7-1 loss), I did very good in the first period but the second and third periods went kind of downhill. So I guess this was kind of a make-up. We didn't win, but it was a good game. The next time we play them, we'll have the confidence that we know we can play with them and that we beat them, which we can. We just have to play a little harder and get a little bit luckier."

Hughes was impressed with his junior goaltdender's effort.

"He kept us in this game, many, many times throughout," he said. "Hats off to him for stepping up and making a whole lot of saves for us. Dylan played great. He made some huge saves at key moments of the game to keep us in when we got ourselves in trouble. He bailed us out. It's definitely a confidence-booster for him."

Luck was not on Escanaba's side Tuesday, as the Redmen got six power play opportunities and the Eskymos got only one. The Eskymo penalty killers were a perfect 6-for-6, but two even strength goals off Marquette face-off wins were the difference.

After Escanaba battled to a 0-0 tie for almost two full periods, with Ziemke often "standing on his head" in the crease, the Redmen scored with 21 seconds left in the second period as Riipi lofted one toward the net that found its way past Ziemke for the first goal.

In the third period, Escanaba captain Nick Kolich had back-to-back Grade A scoring chances less tha a minute apart. On the first, he burned by the defense up the right side and ripped a low shot on Marquette goaltender Carsen Hayes, who made the pad save.

Then, 40 seconds later, Kolich again raced up the right wing and sniped one that beat Hayes, but clanked off the crossbar where it meets the right goalpost.

That happened midway through the third period, and then after the Eskymos killed off another penalty, Marquette got a faceoff win from Ethan Phillips and Riipi put it home with 4:14 left to make it a 2-0 game.

"Those are the plays we talked about: faceoff intensity," Hughes said. "Everyone on the ice needs to know what's going on. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to their point quick enough and they were able to put it on net."

The Eskymos couldn't even pull Ziemke for the extra attacker late because of another penalty that had them shorthanded.

But Hughes says this effort sets his team up for a good run, despite the loss. The Eskymos have lost nine games to Calumet, Marquette, Houghton, and Hancock, all of which are ranked in the top seven in the state in their respective divisions. Now, the Eskymos play seven games against unranked Negaunee, Kingsford, Painesdale-Jeffers, and Sault Ste. Marie.

"If we play like we did tonight, there's no doubt in my mind that we can win from here on out for the rest of our regular season games," Hughes said. "But it's up to these guys to show up, putting shifts together, playing one period at a time. We need to show up like we did tonight."

Escanaba plays its final home games this weekend, against Painesadale-Jeffers Friday at 6:30, and a doubleheader against Negaunee Saturday at noon and 6 p.m. All three games will be broadcast live on FM-93.5, AM-600, and rrnsports.com.









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