PLYMOUTH, Mich.---He just stood there on the ice, back bent forward, hockey stick in both of his hands. Head down, tears flowing.
Levi Wunder just couldn't leave the ice, even though all of his teammates already had. The captain of the Escanaba Eskymos just couldn't believe that the team had lost its state semifinal game to Livonia Stevenson, 3-2.
After a few moments, Wunder turned to the group of Eskymo supporters who made the seven-hour journey from the U.P.
He held his head high, raised his arms into the air, and pointed his stick at the crowd. And then he left the ice for the final time.
Wunder scored a goal in the first period, missed on a breakaway later in the game, and then was pulled down on a controversial play in the closing seconds. The result was a 3-2 loss to the Spartans, who will face Birmingham Brother Rice in Saturday's final.
"Yeah, there were some tears falling, but if you're not crying, then you probably don't care," Wunder said. "I had to salute the fans. They've been there. Day in, day out, for the past three years for me. I wouldn't take any of it back. It sucks that it's over, but, it's been a great ride, and I couldn't ask for anything better."
Wunder gave his team a 1-0 lead in the first period when he followed up his own rebound with his 46th goal, and 92nd point, of the season. The Eskymos found themselves in the penalty box for most of the second period, but they killed off five power plays.
That extra energy expended to kill off those penalties would become a factor as the game wore on. And Livonia Stevenson is in this spot for a reason: the Spartans are good.
They got on the board at the 7:10 mark of the second period as Shane Leonard ripped one past the glove of goaltender Jack Valentine to tie the game. That put the Eskymos on their heals, and 42 seconds later, the Spartans won a face-off and Vince Glenn scored.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the Eskymos were behind, 2-1. But it took less than a half minute for Hunter LaMarch to jump on a loose puck, fight off a trip, and rifle one past goaltender Cullen Barber, and the game was tied at 2-2.
LaMarch had been afforded a penalty shot in the first period on a simliar play, but Barber made the save.
With the flurry of activity, the game was tied, but the Eskymos made a rare defensive mistake and it cost them dearly. Nate Sudek won a one-on-one battle down deep, got around the defense, and slipped one through Valentine's five-hole.
Livonia Stevenson had the 3-2 lead and there was still 6:09 left in the second period. But no more goals would be scored by either team, thanks to a parade to the penalty box by the Eskymos...and thanks to the strong goaltending of Valentine.
Valentine stopped 33 of 36 shots, including many "Grade A" chances. The Spartans outshot the Eskymos, 36-16, including 29-7 over the final two periods. But it was still 3-2, and the Eskymos were preparing to pull Valentine for an extra attacker.
That's when Nick Aird was called for cross-checking with 1:14 left on the clock.
It was a marginal call at best, and it prevented the Eskymos from having that one last rush with the net empty. But when you have Wunder on the ice, you can still get a scoring chance, and he created one last chance that will be remembered forever.
With 20 seconds on the clock, Wunder got the puck at center ice. He needed to beat two defensemen, and did so. One of them appeared to trip Wunder right in front of the net. Penalty? Penalty shot, maybe? No, nothing. And time expired. A bitter loss.
"I came down, made a nice clean toe-drag, and got pulled down with 20 seconds or so left," Wunder said. "It's a real shame that we didn't get a call there. It was dicey all game, it seemed, with some of the calls. The penalty on Nick with 1:14 left? You don't normally see a call at that time of the game in a state semifinal. It's unfortunate."
"To go out this way, it's very disapppointing for me," Escanaba Coach Matt Hughes said. "To go out, with someone (officials) taking it out of your hands, is not right. Let the kids play it out. Don't give us a penalty in the third period and put us shorthanded when we're behind by one goal, on a weak call. "It's not right."
Hughes was not done there, either.
"And then, you don't give us the one back when Levi's got their defensemen beat and gets hauled down," he said. "They (officials) said "that's what happens when you go between two defensemen'. Well, you know, that's NOT what happens."
And Hughes was still not done.
"Our plan was to get him (Valentine) off the ice for a 6-on-5, but it didn't happen because it was taken away from us. It was just inconsistent," he said. "I'm not blaming them. We had our chances. But their inconistencies didn't help."
Wunder, the Eskymo captain, was not blaming the loss on the officials.
"Absolutely not," he said. "Livonia Stevenson is a great team. They outshot us by quite a bit. They capitalized on some of our mistakes and that was a result of the game. The penalties kind of sucked (nine Spartan power plays to four for the Eskymos), but you've got to play through it and they ended up being the better team in the end."
Hughes, despite the tough loss, was thrilled with his team's play.
"It's a tough one," he said. "The kids worked so hard throughout the entire year, and really picked up their game over the past two weeks or so. The kids shouldn't be disappointed. They had an excellent year."
Escanaba finishes its season with an 18-11-1 record. The team will have its year-end banquet next Thursday, and many of the boys will begin playing spring sports.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Mary Gauthier, and to hear post-game interviews.
Levi Wunder just couldn't leave the ice, even though all of his teammates already had. The captain of the Escanaba Eskymos just couldn't believe that the team had lost its state semifinal game to Livonia Stevenson, 3-2.
He held his head high, raised his arms into the air, and pointed his stick at the crowd. And then he left the ice for the final time.
Wunder scored a goal in the first period, missed on a breakaway later in the game, and then was pulled down on a controversial play in the closing seconds. The result was a 3-2 loss to the Spartans, who will face Birmingham Brother Rice in Saturday's final.
"Yeah, there were some tears falling, but if you're not crying, then you probably don't care," Wunder said. "I had to salute the fans. They've been there. Day in, day out, for the past three years for me. I wouldn't take any of it back. It sucks that it's over, but, it's been a great ride, and I couldn't ask for anything better."
Wunder gave his team a 1-0 lead in the first period when he followed up his own rebound with his 46th goal, and 92nd point, of the season. The Eskymos found themselves in the penalty box for most of the second period, but they killed off five power plays.
They got on the board at the 7:10 mark of the second period as Shane Leonard ripped one past the glove of goaltender Jack Valentine to tie the game. That put the Eskymos on their heals, and 42 seconds later, the Spartans won a face-off and Vince Glenn scored.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the Eskymos were behind, 2-1. But it took less than a half minute for Hunter LaMarch to jump on a loose puck, fight off a trip, and rifle one past goaltender Cullen Barber, and the game was tied at 2-2.
LaMarch had been afforded a penalty shot in the first period on a simliar play, but Barber made the save.
With the flurry of activity, the game was tied, but the Eskymos made a rare defensive mistake and it cost them dearly. Nate Sudek won a one-on-one battle down deep, got around the defense, and slipped one through Valentine's five-hole.
Valentine stopped 33 of 36 shots, including many "Grade A" chances. The Spartans outshot the Eskymos, 36-16, including 29-7 over the final two periods. But it was still 3-2, and the Eskymos were preparing to pull Valentine for an extra attacker.
That's when Nick Aird was called for cross-checking with 1:14 left on the clock.
It was a marginal call at best, and it prevented the Eskymos from having that one last rush with the net empty. But when you have Wunder on the ice, you can still get a scoring chance, and he created one last chance that will be remembered forever.
With 20 seconds on the clock, Wunder got the puck at center ice. He needed to beat two defensemen, and did so. One of them appeared to trip Wunder right in front of the net. Penalty? Penalty shot, maybe? No, nothing. And time expired. A bitter loss.
"To go out this way, it's very disapppointing for me," Escanaba Coach Matt Hughes said. "To go out, with someone (officials) taking it out of your hands, is not right. Let the kids play it out. Don't give us a penalty in the third period and put us shorthanded when we're behind by one goal, on a weak call. "It's not right."
Hughes was not done there, either.
"And then, you don't give us the one back when Levi's got their defensemen beat and gets hauled down," he said. "They (officials) said "that's what happens when you go between two defensemen'. Well, you know, that's NOT what happens."
And Hughes was still not done.
"Our plan was to get him (Valentine) off the ice for a 6-on-5, but it didn't happen because it was taken away from us. It was just inconsistent," he said. "I'm not blaming them. We had our chances. But their inconistencies didn't help."
"Absolutely not," he said. "Livonia Stevenson is a great team. They outshot us by quite a bit. They capitalized on some of our mistakes and that was a result of the game. The penalties kind of sucked (nine Spartan power plays to four for the Eskymos), but you've got to play through it and they ended up being the better team in the end."
Hughes, despite the tough loss, was thrilled with his team's play.
"It's a tough one," he said. "The kids worked so hard throughout the entire year, and really picked up their game over the past two weeks or so. The kids shouldn't be disappointed. They had an excellent year."
Escanaba finishes its season with an 18-11-1 record. The team will have its year-end banquet next Thursday, and many of the boys will begin playing spring sports.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Mary Gauthier, and to hear post-game interviews.
