Alpena catches fire in 3rd period to score 4-2 win over TC West
News Photo by Owen Kinzey Alpena’s Brody Misiak waits for the puck drop during Saturday’s game against Traverse City West. AHS beat TC West 4-2 in their third conference game of the week.
News photo by Owen Kinzey Alpena goalie Jonny Rensberry stays ready to defend any shots taken by Traverse City West on Saturday. The Wildcats won 4-2 in their third conference game of the week.
News Photo by Owen Kinzey Alpena’s Brody Misiak waits for the puck drop during Saturday’s game against Traverse City West. AHS beat TC West 4-2 in their third conference game of the week.
News photo by Owen Kinzey Alpena goalie Jonny Rensberry stays ready to defend any shots taken by Traverse City West on Saturday. The Wildcats won 4-2 in their third conference game of the week.
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ALPENA -- Finishing off the Alpena High hockey teams' third conference game of the week, the Wildcats (6-3, 3-0 BNC) faced off against Traverse City West on Saturday, taking the win, 4-2.
After an unusually slow start through the first two periods, Alpena found themselves down 0-1 but caught fire in the third, where four goals were scored in the Wildcats' favor.
Alpena completed the comeback, finishing a 4-2 win over the Titans.
"Three Big North games on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday take a lot of energy out of you. So I think taking better care of our bodies and coming to the rink ready to play has to happen going forward," Alpena coach Ben Henry said. "I thought the first couple of shifts were good, but we started to look slow, and we just can't have that."
One of Alpena's best traits all season long is the amount of shots and pressure it can put on the opposing net.
Several shots came close to goals, but some solid saves from Alonso Ovaitt allowed TC West to shut down the Wildcats for over two quarters.
Great defensive play even provided the Titans with many opportunities to score, and eventually, one found the back of the net.
At 11:55 in the second period, TC West's Jack Schripsema shot the puck just to the left of Jonny Rensberry, crossing the line for the score and securing a 1-0 lead over the Wildcats.
Kallen Ray assisted Schripsema's shot.
Suddenly, Alpena landed in unprecedented territory, falling behind against a Big North Conference team. Before this game, the Wildcats had taken home 12 straight BNC games during the regular season.
Despite this streak, Alpena went into the locker room after the second period down a goal.
Although the Wildcats were down, Garrett Hamp took over the ice in the third period.
With 12:39 remaining, Hamp took the puck down the ice after a pass from Luke Miller and scored on the breakaway, tying the game at 1-1.
Just under three minutes later, the Wildcats struck again. This time, on the powerplay, Bryce Moe snuck the puck into the net after an assist from Gavin Winterstein.
Alpena now had the lead, with the entire crowd and momentum on its side.
Another two minutes later, Hamp was, once again, left by himself one-on-one with the Titan's goalie, where he added a third Wildcats goal in just over five minutes.
Maintaining a two-goal lead going into the final minutes, TC West pulled its goalie and managed its own goal, trimming Alpena's lead to 3-2.
Even though pulling the goal worked once for the Titans, that strategy almost immediately backfired. Hamp scored the game-sealing goal, completing his hat trick and the 4-2 win.
"Garrett Hamp really took over and took hold of the reigns of this game. It's nice to see our captain step up in a big way like he did tonight and lead us to a big win," Coach Henry said.
Alpena plays at Petoskey on Wednesday at 6 p.m.