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Wickham helps ice Esky win

Mike Mattson | Daily Press Escanaba’s Garth Wickham (19) and Negaunee’s Peyton Anderson (11) battle for a loose puck Monday night. Wickham produced a hat trick to help lead the Eskymos to a 10-2 mercy victory.

WELLS — Escanaba coach Matt Hughes craved a win after a rough start to this prep hockey season.

So a 10-2 mercy win Monday night against Negaunee came at the right time for the Eskymos. It wasn’t a must win, but it sure was welcomed.

“We needed a win,” Hughes said after the Eskymos dominated the Miners at the Hannahville Ice & Turf Complex. “We needed a game like this. We had to get our older guys going to make plays and put the puck in the net.”

Seniors Garth Wickham and Parker LaMarch each recorded a hat trick for the Eskymos, who improved to 2-4 on the season. Senior Chris LeMire also delivered five assists.

The Eskymos were coming off a 2-1 loss Saturday at Houghton and needed to get some offense going, especially with a tough challenge ahead Saturday at Hancock.

Esky outshot the Miners 45-14 and kept the pressure on most of the night.

The Eskymos led 5-0 after the first period as Christopher Sliva opened the scoring at the 9:03 mark and Wickham and LaMarch each scored twice. Esky outshot Negaunee 18-6 in the first period.

“It was an all-around team effort,” Wickham said. “We were moving the puck around real well tonight.”

Esky built an 8-2 lead after two periods. Kyle Egner, Christer Carne and Wickham all scored goals for the Eskymos, who had a 29-14 shot advantage entering the third period.

Neal Violetta and Trevor Borlace each scored a goal for the Miners (3-2) in the second period.

Negaunee coach Josh Chapman said his team had several breakdowns and couldn’t battle back from a big deficit.

“We have a lot to work on,” Chapman said. “I’m not happy with the loss, but it’s early in the season.”

Chapman pulled starting sophomore goalie Nolan Corwin after the first period, with freshman Preston Maki finishing the game.

“We were trying to change some things up,” Chapman said. “Nolan is a good goalie and I didn’t want to take him out. One of the things about that position is you’re on or not.”

Esky ended the game early in the third period, thanks to a goal by Hunter Haslow and LaMarch’s third goal.

Also earning multiple assists for the Eskymos were Sliva, Haslow and Grant Wickham with two apiece.

Esky goalies Brodie Goddard and Aaron Young combined to stop 12-of-14 shots against the Miners.

Negaunee travels to Kingsford Monday, while Esky returns to the Copper Country Saturday.

“We’ve always had good games with them,” Hughes said about the Hancock matchup. “They are the defending Division 3 champions. Hopefully we’ll show up to play and give them a good game.”

Negaunee                 0 2 0 —  2

Escanaba                         5 3 2 — 10

First period

E — Sliva (LeMire), 9:03

E — Garth Wickham (Hayes, LeMire), 10:44

E — LaMarch (Jacobson, LeMire), 13:26

E — Wickham (LeMire)

E — LaMarch (Haslow, LeMire), 16:02

Second period

E — Wickham (Egner), 2:13

N — N. Violetta (Borlace, Ring), 3:09

N — Borlace (N. Violetta), 8:52

E — Egner, 12:47

E — Carne (Grant Wickham, Sliva), 15:03

Third period

E — Haslow (Grant Wickham, Silverstone), 3:02

E — LaMarch (Sliva, Haslow), 7:44

Shots on goal: Escanaba 45, Negaunee 14.

Goaltender saves: Escanaba — Goddard 6, Young 6; Negaunee — Corwin 13, Maki 22

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