WELLS----The Marquette Redmen may be down, but they are still the Marquette Redmen. And the Escanaba Eskymos' long-time rivals came within four minutes of handing them a stinging loss on home ice.
But Levi Wunder scored two goals and Jake Eastin had the game-winner as the Eskymos pulled out a 3-1 win over the shorthanded Redmen.
Marquette came to town with seven players in street clothes for a variety of reasons, and the Redmen brought with them a 2-10 record.
But Eskymo Coach Tim McCarthy warned his guys that Marquette would play hard. And that's exactly what happened.
"They played a real basic game, a great defensive game," McCarthy said of the Redmen. "Nothing was fancy. They got the puck into our end, pursued it, and put lots of pressure on us.
"They were blocking our passes. They were blocking our shots."
Marquette played a defensive style, and frustrated the Eskymos for a good part of the game. The Eskymos had a handful of off-sides and icings as they struggled to get into an offensive flow. And when they did get shots on net, Redman goaltender Evan Kyle made the save...many of them with his glove. The game was scoreless after two periods.
Then, early in the third period, the Redmen pounced on a scoring opportunity as Alex Zerbel in on Eskymo goaltender Nick LeMire. LeMire made the save with his glove, but Mac Larson scored on the rebound, under the crossbar. Marquette led, 1-0.
The period continued with Marquette being mostly content to clear the puck out of its zone and clogging the passing lanes at its blue line. Finally, as the clock ticked under the four minute mark, the Eskymos got some offensive puck control.
It started with Quintin McCarthy holding the puck in at the blue line. Ben Lasecki worked hard along the boards and passed it to Levi Wunder.
Wunder had been snake-bitten Saturday night in Calumet, but he came through with the tying goal at 13:06.
"I had so many chances, but I tried 'glove, high' way too many times," Wunder said. "I finally went blocker, and popped one in. Ben threw it out to me. It went into my skates, actually, but I kind of pivoted, got hit, shot, and it went low blocker. It was so much relief. The place was rocking. It changed the momentum."
"We had to move the puck more instead of taking so many straight-on shots," Coach McCarthy said. "We did there. Nice pass across and a quick one-time shot by Levi."
The Eskymos took momentum from that goal and overwhelmed the Redmen, who could not get the puck out of their zone. On one series, Steve Wood singlehandedly kept the puck in along the boards for a good 30 seconds. Later, at center ice, Jeff Lyle's hustle to a loose puck along the boards led to a Marquette tripping penalty.
And on that power play, the Eskymos cashed in with the clock under one minute. It was Eastin, a.k.a. Mr. Clutch, who came through. Eastin had scored the game-winner in the final minute last Tuesday against Sault Ste. Marie, and this time, he did it again by following up on his own rebound.
The top-shelf goal with 41.6 seconds left led to a wild celebration, as an excited Eastin slid about 15 feet on his behind at center ice.
Moments later, Wunder scored into the empty net for his 23rd goal of the season.
The Eskymos can thank their goaltender, LeMire, for being in the position. While the offense sputtered, especially in the second period, the junior netminder held his ground.
He ended up with 16 saves, but ten of them were quality scoring chances.
Kyle stopped 34 of 36 shots in net for Marquette.
Quintin McCarthy was named the game's #1 star for his defensive play, in particular, in the third period. Both the tying and winning goals were set up by McCarthy keeping the puck in at the blue line. Once, he did it with his glove, then stick, then his body.
"I was trying to do my best to keep it in, to keep the play going," McCarthy said. "I think I did pretty good. I stepped up my game quite a bit. I just kept my head good and clear, and didn't let my emotions get to me."
Said McCarthy's dad and coach, Tim: "He played awesome tonight. We talked between periods about who was going to step up and be the hero of the game. It was nice to see."
Wood was given the game's #2 star, sharing the star with Marquette's Alex Zerbel.
"He put so much pressure on them, especially on the penalty kill," Coach McCarthy said. "I think he himself kept them behind their net for 15, 20 seconds on that one power play. Knocking the puck away. He was just relentless with it."
Wood was happy to beat the arch-rival Redmen for the second time this season.
"It feels great," Wood said. "My freshman year, we didn't beat them at all. But last year, we got the big (playoff) win. And now, to do it twice in a row, it's really cool."
Escanaba (11-3) returns to action next Tuesday night in Iron Mountain against the Kingsford Flivvers. The game starts at 7:00 ET at the Mountain View Ice Arena.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box at the top of this page to see videos taken by Luke Anthony, pictures taken by Tracy Pinar, and listen to interviews and replays of goals by Wunder and Eastin.
But Levi Wunder scored two goals and Jake Eastin had the game-winner as the Eskymos pulled out a 3-1 win over the shorthanded Redmen.
A big faceoff inside the Eskymo zone.
But Eskymo Coach Tim McCarthy warned his guys that Marquette would play hard. And that's exactly what happened.
"They played a real basic game, a great defensive game," McCarthy said of the Redmen. "Nothing was fancy. They got the puck into our end, pursued it, and put lots of pressure on us.
"They were blocking our passes. They were blocking our shots."
Marquette played a defensive style, and frustrated the Eskymos for a good part of the game. The Eskymos had a handful of off-sides and icings as they struggled to get into an offensive flow. And when they did get shots on net, Redman goaltender Evan Kyle made the save...many of them with his glove. The game was scoreless after two periods.
Levi Wunder's tying goal.
The period continued with Marquette being mostly content to clear the puck out of its zone and clogging the passing lanes at its blue line. Finally, as the clock ticked under the four minute mark, the Eskymos got some offensive puck control.
Esky's Calvin Pinar's (18) shot is blocked.
Wunder had been snake-bitten Saturday night in Calumet, but he came through with the tying goal at 13:06.
"I had so many chances, but I tried 'glove, high' way too many times," Wunder said. "I finally went blocker, and popped one in. Ben threw it out to me. It went into my skates, actually, but I kind of pivoted, got hit, shot, and it went low blocker. It was so much relief. The place was rocking. It changed the momentum."
"We had to move the puck more instead of taking so many straight-on shots," Coach McCarthy said. "We did there. Nice pass across and a quick one-time shot by Levi."
The Eskymos took momentum from that goal and overwhelmed the Redmen, who could not get the puck out of their zone. On one series, Steve Wood singlehandedly kept the puck in along the boards for a good 30 seconds. Later, at center ice, Jeff Lyle's hustle to a loose puck along the boards led to a Marquette tripping penalty.
Jake Eastin game-winning goal.
The top-shelf goal with 41.6 seconds left led to a wild celebration, as an excited Eastin slid about 15 feet on his behind at center ice.
The Eskymos can thank their goaltender, LeMire, for being in the position. While the offense sputtered, especially in the second period, the junior netminder held his ground.
He ended up with 16 saves, but ten of them were quality scoring chances.
Kyle stopped 34 of 36 shots in net for Marquette.
Quintin McCarthy was named the game's #1 star for his defensive play, in particular, in the third period. Both the tying and winning goals were set up by McCarthy keeping the puck in at the blue line. Once, he did it with his glove, then stick, then his body.
"I was trying to do my best to keep it in, to keep the play going," McCarthy said. "I think I did pretty good. I stepped up my game quite a bit. I just kept my head good and clear, and didn't let my emotions get to me."
Said McCarthy's dad and coach, Tim: "He played awesome tonight. We talked between periods about who was going to step up and be the hero of the game. It was nice to see."
Esky goaltender Nick LeMire was strong.
"He put so much pressure on them, especially on the penalty kill," Coach McCarthy said. "I think he himself kept them behind their net for 15, 20 seconds on that one power play. Knocking the puck away. He was just relentless with it."
Wood was happy to beat the arch-rival Redmen for the second time this season.
"It feels great," Wood said. "My freshman year, we didn't beat them at all. But last year, we got the big (playoff) win. And now, to do it twice in a row, it's really cool."
Escanaba (11-3) returns to action next Tuesday night in Iron Mountain against the Kingsford Flivvers. The game starts at 7:00 ET at the Mountain View Ice Arena.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box at the top of this page to see videos taken by Luke Anthony, pictures taken by Tracy Pinar, and listen to interviews and replays of goals by Wunder and Eastin.
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Game Fourteen: Escanaba Eskymos 3, Marquette Redmen 1 MARQUETTE 0 0 1----1 ESCANABAH 0 0 3----3 First Period No Scoring. Second Period No Scoring. Third Period MQT 1-0: Larson (Zerbel) 3:16 ESC 1-1: Wunder 22 (McCarthy, Lasecki) 13:06 ESC 2-1: Eastin 17 (unassisted) 16:18 PPG ESC 3-1: Wunder 23 (Chaillier, Vandermissen) 16:39 ENG Escanaba Penalties (4/8): Bench 2 too-many men; Lasecki 2 interference; Vandermissen 2 slashing; Ritter 2 cross-checking. Marquette Penalties (3/6): Frazier 2 interference; Hanson 2 head contact; Cornock 2 tripping. Power Plays: Escanaba 1/4; Marquette 0/4. Shots On Goal: Escanaba 9-7-21=37; Marquette 2-7-7=16. Three Stars: 1. McCarthy, ESC; 2. Zerbel, MQT/Wood, ESC; 3. Wunder, ESC. |
