Blue Devils finish 1-1 at Alpena Thanksgiving Showcase
ALPENA — Sault High finished 1-1 at the Alpena Thanksgiving Hockey Showcase over the weekend.
The Blue Devils fell 6-2 against East Grand Rapids in the showcase opener Friday, but bounced back for a 5-3 victory over the Negaunee Miners on Saturday afternoon at Northern Lights Arena.
East Grand Rapids took a 3-0 lead over Sault High in the first period and led 6-2 through two periods. Dominic Cicco scored the first goal for the Blue Devils assisted by Jay Dunbar, while Avery Wilson also notched a goal, assisted by Evan Hoglund.
Neither team scored in the third period, as East Grand Rapids took the 6-2 win and dealt the Blue Devils their first loss of the season.
Goaltender Tristan Forgrave made five saves in the first period for the Blue Devils, while Michael Bontrager made 13 saves in two periods.
“It was a weird game,” Sault High Rick Mackie said. “I felt we were outplaying them for a lot of that game, but it didn’t go our way. I had no problem with our effort, it was just one of those games where you feel like you played well but didn’t win.”
On Saturday, five different players scored for the Blue Devils in a 5-3 win over Negaunee. Hoglund, Wilson, Odin Medrick, George Bauman and Joey Engle scored goals, while Garrett Gorsuch had two assists, and Treyce Moran, Wilson, Engle and Dunbar added one assist apiece. Bontrager made 15 saves to notch the win.
“Honestly I felt we played a little better in Friday’s game, but we did find a way to win against Negaunee,” Mackie said. “Overall, it was a pretty good weekend and our young team continues to improve. We still need to pay better attention to details and cut down on our mistakes. We have some things to work on as we get ready to play Cheboygan and Escanaba this week.”
Sault High (2-1-1) returns to action at 7 p.m. at Cheboygan Wednesday. The Blue Devils return home this upcoming weekend, playing host to the Escanaba Eskymos at 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday at Big Bear Arena.
Contact Sports Editor Rob Roos at rroos@sooeveningnews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @rroosTEN.
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Blue Devils finish 1-1 at Alpena Thanksgiving Showcase
