HOUGHTON — With the help of six goals from winger Cale Markham, the defending Gibson Cup Champion Portage Lake Pioneers hockey team cruised to a sweep of the Calumet Wolverines over the weekend in a home-and-home series.
With the wins, the Pioneers improved to 5-1 on the season, but, more importantly to them, they set the bar for how the rivalry between the two Great Lakes Hockey League will go this season.
Markham scored four goals in a 7-2 win on Friday at the Calumet Colosseum, and added two more Saturday in an 8-3 win at Dee Stadium. He spent the weekend playing on a line with Nick Harris and Matthew Halonen, a new addition to the Pioneers this season, and Markham felt that the line, which was put together this past week, was already paying off.
“It feels good to be able to contribute here, help out the team,” he said. “(I was playing with) new line mates this weekend, so I thought it all went well. It was a first try at it, and I think we can see us playing again in the future here.”
Markham’s first goal Saturday night came at 16:54 of the second period, when he drove through the slot and beat Wolverines goaltender Bruce Perisot with a wrist shot from just outside the crease. The goal, which was assisted by defenseman Anthony Harris, made the game 6-2 in favor of the Pioneers with a little over 20 minutes left in the contest.
His second goal came just under seven minutes after Calumet center Brent Loukus had cut the Pioneers’ lead in half 1:42 into the third period on a power play. Halonen carried the puck down to the bottom of the right circle and then fed the puck back out into the slot and Markham buried a quick shot at 8:09, which regained the four-goal lead for the Pioneers, 7-3.
Markham was quick to point out after the game that his line did not start the night well, so they needed to bounce back, and they did so over that 12-minute span from late in the second period through the early third.
“I had a bad turnover in our own zone, so I was two-against on the night,” he said. “We just did what we could, tried to play a 200-foot game, get the puck down at their goal line, play from there. It comes a lot easier when they’re just going out there and working in their end.”
Loukus’ early third-period tally was a part of a better effort from the Wolverines in the third period, especially after they were outplayed in the middle frame.
“I don’t think we put in the effort for the first two periods tonight,” he said. “I think a little bit we had a spark there in the third, but other than that, I think they were just heavy on us all night, and it kind of showed.
“Our forecheck was a lot better there in the third. Obviously, that was a power play goal, but I think all around in the third, we had a lot more effort, (we were) harder on pucks, and we just got a lot more pucks to the net, and got a few more quality chances.”
The Wolverines fell behind just 32 seconds into the game when winger Austin Mikesch scored on a quick shot that seemed to surprise Perisot. Center Spencer Donnelly assisted on the goal before later scoring one of his how at 13:34 to regain the lead.
“That’s what you need in a hockey game,” Donnelly said. “That’s what we talked about right before we got out there, and we did it and. (It) couldn’t have gone better than that.”
Getting the early lead was exactly what the Pioneers wanted to do.
“(It’s) much easier playing with the lead,” said Markham. “You don’t want to be fighting from behind the whole time, playing with desperation. It takes those edges off. The nerves are gone when we can just play our game, keep it simple, and just get pucks up the ice.”
In between Mikesch and Donnelly’s goals, center Carson Kariniemi evened things for the Wolverines just 1:03 after Mikesch’s tally. Miiko Karstu picked up an assist by firing the initial shot that rebounded off of goaltender Jimmy Pietila’s pads and right to Kariniemi.
In the second period, Anthony Harris extended Portage Lake’s lead with a 4-on-4 goal at 2:15.
Winger Brett Hauswirth, who earned an assist on Donnelly’s goal, and another on the goal by Anthony Harris, got in alone on Perisot and beat him with a wrist shot at 4:49.
Calumet alternate captain Matthew Yeo got one back, cutting the lead down to two, 4-2, when he beat Pietila with a wrist shot from the right circle at 6:42.
Defenseman Matt Marchel scored at 12:34, regaining the three-goal advantage for the Pioneers on a shot along the ice that slide through Perisot. Defenseman Charlie Turner and Nick Harris assisted on the goal.
Leading 7-3 in in the final minute of the game, winger Dominick Nettell closed out the scoring with a tip-in goal off a shot from the slot by center Dawson McKay with 45 seconds left in the contest.
Pietila made 36 saves to earn the win. Peridot made 30 saves in the loss.
Friday night, Markham’s first goal came with 2:02 left in the first period and it broke up a 1-1 tie. Nick Harris had opened the scoring 7:41 in. Mikech and Hauswirth both picked up assists on the goal.
In between those goals, winger Ed Beiring evened the game 11:03. Alternate captain Stephen Dudenas and Loukus both earned assists on the goal.
Markham struck three times in the third period to turn a 2-1 advantage into the 7-2 final. HIs first came 5:30 in off a feed from Marchel. His third goal of the night, and second of the period, came on the power play at 14:55. His final tally was scored with 1:13 left in the game, and on the power play. Captain Cody Sivonen and defenseman Ross Rouleau both picked up assists on that goal.
Mikesch had the lone goal of the middle frame, scoring at 11:04 while the Pioneers were on the man advantage. Rouleau and Marchel both earned assists on the goal.
The other Pioneers’ goal came from winger Devyn LaCourt 3:34 into the third.
Loukus scored the second Wolverines’ tally 8:22 into the third, which made the score 5-2 at the time.
Pietila made 32 saves to earn the win. Tyler Hubbard stopped 29 shots for the Wolverines.
The two rivals will be back at it again Friday, Dec. 29, with a game at Dee Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
https://www.mininggazette.com/sports/local-sports/2023/12/pioneers-score-early-often-in-sweep-of-wolverines/
Email
Print
