News Photo by Steve Jakubcin Players on the Alpena varsity hockey team celebrate a goal during its 6-1 win over Traverse City West at the Northern Lights Arena in Alpena on Wednesday.

ALPENA – The Alpena Wildcats,14-6, hockey team earned an impressive 6-1 lop-sided win over rival Traverse City West in Alpena on Wednesday.

The Wildcats got the scoring started early in the first period when the team capitalized on a perfect pass by Clark Weir to Owen VanDusen who beat the visiting goalie to take a quick 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats continued to pour on the pressure and on a power play, less than two minutes later, Alpena’s Ethan Walker fired a shot that was blocked by TC West, however, Trevor Werth was there to put it in the net. Gavin Winterstein had the assist and that score pushed the Wildcat lead to 2-0 with 13:31 remaining in the first period.

The Wildcats continued to pour it on.

It looked like Gavin Winterstein was poised to take a shot when he found Trey Adrian just inside the circle who launched a beautiful shot over the Traverse City West goalie’s shoulder and extended the lead to 3-0.

The score would remain the same until the Alpena squad erupted again in the third period.

The third period began with an Alpena player in the penalty box; despite the disadvantage, Weir delivered an outstanding pass to Gavin Winterstein who found the back of the net, which extended Alpena’s lead to 4-0.

With under 10 minutes to play in the third period, Worth added his second goal of the night off of a pass from VanDusen and that cushioned the Alpena lead to 5-0.

Traverse City West avoided the shutout and scored their only goal of the night off of a power play following the goal from Alpena.

The final goal for the Wildcats, was one of the largest highlights of the game, despite it being a blowout.

Peyton Weir, who was celebrating her birthday, registered her first career goal, making the score 6-1. Adrian and Winterstein received credit for the assists.

Alpena Coach Ben Henry discussed his team’s fast start and dominant performance.

“Our start to the game was so good, we came out flying and played very fast. We were very good in the first 10 min of that game,” Henry said.

Henry said the Wildcats’ speed was key in their victory tonight

“We were moving pucks and getting a lot of good shots on net. Our penalty kill and power play were very good as well,” Henry said.

Henry said he believes there is still room for improvement that will help spark more success later in the season. He said his squad needs more consistency.

“We need to be consistent in all three periods, making smart plays from start to finish. Staying out of the box, we cannot take penalties down the road like we did last night,” Henry said. “It hurts our team and makes everyone tired. Playing a full three periods is the key, and making simple plays all over the ice, not just in the beginning of the game.”