Hockey: Chemics cage listless Hawks

by Cory Butzin

The Midland High hockey team took advantage of the power play early and cashed in on five third period goals Wednesday to mercy Heritage 8-0 in the regional hockey tournament at Midland Civic Arena.

“We had the pressure on and we were buzzing pretty good,” said Midland coach Jeff Brown. “And to add on that, our (defense) was playing pretty solid, so it was a good effort.”

Midland came out of the gates flying. They hustled to every loose puck and drove hard to the net. And when a hooking penalty put Heritage a man down, the Chemics took advantage as Joel Parsons cashed in at 8:54 of the first period to give Midland the lead. Catlin Porter and Kevin Alcott were credited with assists on the goal.

The Chemics kept up a ferocious fore check in the second period, dictating the tempo and controlling the puck, which resulted in a Kenny Babinski goal off of a Nate Scurfield assist at 4:39 of the second.

Midland’s aggressive play kept Heritage flustered, and the Hawks’ frustrations got the best of them when a cross-checking penalty put the Chemics on the power play again. And again Midland made them pay, when the rebound off of a Blake Benner slap shot from the blue line was put in by Parsons to give Midland a commanding three goal lead with a minute and a half remaining in the period.

The Hawks may have felt grounded in the first two periods, but the Chemics clipped their wings in the third.

At 4:28 of the third period Porter put in the rebound off of a Alcott shot to give Midland a 4-0 lead, and within two minutes Parsons and Garret Curtis tallied goals to give the Chemics an insurmountable 6-0 advantage.

Heritage made a change in net and it seemed to settle them down, but it was not enough. At 11:49 of the third a Matt Alcott shot found the back of the net and Porter scored his second goal of the night twelve seconds later, after which the mercy rule was taken into effect and the game was called.

“All I wanted to do was come out and win the third,” Brown said. “The boys picked it up another notch and pretty soon it was what it was.”

Offensively, eight Chemics registered points in the win. They were led by Parsons who finished with a hat trick and an assist, while Porter finished with two goals and an assist. Matt Alcott tallied a goal and two assists and Kevin Alcott was credited with three assists.

While their offense stole the show, Brown was really proud of his defense, especially net minder Alex Sepesy who stopped 11 shots on goal to preserve the shutout.

“Any time you can shut out a team, especially a team like Heritage, your (defense) is playing good,” he said. “I thought our goaltender was seeing the puck real well and making the saves he needed to make.”

The Chemics move on to the regional finals Saturday at Northern Lights Arena in Alpena, where they will take on Traverse City Central at 3 p.m.

To view the photos from Wednesday’s game, click on “Photo slideshow” in the top right corner of this article. The photos are also available for purchase by clicking the “Buy photo reprints” link.

Photos by Cory Butzin