By Dan Hardenbrook
The Manistique Emeralds varsity hockey team needed to make a little bit of magic happen to complete their most recent win, coming from behind to beat the Cheboygan Chiefs in a wild 5-3 contest at the Little Bear East Arena in St. Ignace last week. The victory was the teams’ second in a row, a high point in a tough season that has seen the Emeralds go 4-11-1 on the season.
It was their second win this year against the winless Chiefs, who also co-op with nearby schools St. Ignace and Inland Lakes. Cheboygan fell to 0-14 with the loss.
The night marked one of the few times this season in which the Emeralds were not massive underdogs coming into a game. Maybe that was a detriment early on, as the Emeralds were possibly too comfortable against a desperate Chiefs team that dominated the opening minutes.
Manistique dodged a pair of early bullets, nearly scoring on their own goal twice. Then the Chiefs fired an early face-off into the back of the net, but the goal was waved off. The Chiefs kept on coming. They eventually broke through with a pair of goals to get the lead and led 3-1 after the first period of play.
After a spirited conversation behind closed doors at intermission, the Emeralds equalized the game in the second period. They played a little more crisply, converted on special teams with big power plays and penalty kills, and used much-needed passion to fight their way back. Both teams were shorthanded, but it was the Chiefs, with only 12 total skaters, that faded down the stretch. The Emeralds, playing without two top defensemen, escaped the Straits city with the win.
Along with the win, senior forward Carter Lavigne made history by scoring a pair of goals, giving him the new single-season scoring record for the program with 17 total. Matthew Rahilly got the offense going with their first score, and Joe Noble scored his first varsity goal in the win. Logan Lusk and Jackson Goudreau split time in net.
The Emeralds were at Iron Mountain to play Kingsford Tuesday, and face a tough weekend road trip when the face off against Gladwin Friday and Gaylord on Saturday.
