Courtesy Photo The Alpena Freese Hydraulics bantam hockey team is pictured after the Red Raiders won the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association District 7 title last weekend in Cheboygan.

CHEBOYGAN–The Alpena Freese Hydraulics bantam hockey team won the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association District 7 title last weekend, beating the Sault Area Builders 3-2 Sunday in Cheboygan.

Anchored by exceptional goaltending from Nathan Parris and a relentless forecheck, the Red Raiders grinded out a 3-2 victory in the championship game with two goals from Gavin Winterstein and one from Bryce Moe.

Winterstein’s goals were assisted by Andy Tessmer, Aaron Cook and Estuardo Meno. Moe scored with the helper going to Gunner Moe and Michael Kreis.

The Red Raiders went 4-1 on the weekend and played tough games against formidable opponents.

In game one of round robin, the Red Raiders beat TC Red 5-4, with goals by Lucas Weir, Bryce Moe (2), Gauge Moe, and Tomick “Kowalchuk” Owens-Kowalski.

Assists on the goals went to Gunner Moe (2), Bryce Moe, Gauge Moe, Trey Adrian and Michael Kreis. Bryce Moe scored the winner with 1:10 left in regulation. The Red Raiders then killed a 5-on-3 penalty to end the game with Kreis, Weir, Gauge Moe and Nathan Parris on the ice shorthanded for the final nail-biting 60 seconds.

In game 2, the Red Raiders faced a tough Cheboygan team and lost 4-1. The Alpena squad edged the Cheboygan team in shots on goal 34-22, but could not find the back of the net more than once. Bryce Moe scored the lone goal with an assist from Gauge Moe.

Moving to the quarterfinals, the Red Raiders met up with Cheboygan and the kids gave it their all. The Red Raiders ended up on the good side of a tough fought 5-3 battle, winning the shots on goal again 38-24.

Nathan Parris was incredible all game and the team played a solid 45 minutes against a very talented Cheboygan team. Goals were scored by Lucas Weir (2), Gavin Winterstein, Bryce Moe, and Braeden Schaedig. Assists went to Trey Adrian, Gunner Moe, Aaron Cook, Nathan Parris, Gauge Moe and Tomick Owens-Kowalski.

In the semifinals, the Red Raiders faced the No. 1 seed, Sault Co-op team. The Red Raider train was chugging pretty good and the team hit its stride on a clean 5-2 win with most of the game played in the Sault end.

Scoring was started with a nifty break away goal scored by Gauge Moe on a long stretch pass from Michael Kreis. Moe scored another goal 90 seconds later assisted by his twin brother, Gunner Moe. Second period goals by Gavin Winterstein assisted by Lucas Weir and Braeden Schaedig assisted by Winterstein put Freese up 4-1 after two periods. Winterstein scored again three minutes into the third period to put the Red Raiders up four goals; assisted by Weir one more time to secure the victory.

The team led by Dale Parris and his group of assistant coaches (Ben Henry, Dale Adrian, Sam Turner, Jeremy Winterstein, and Doug Kreis) will now head to the MAHA Bantam U14 State Championship tournament April 16-18 in Sault Ste. Marie.

To cover ice time for practices between now and the state finals, the team has set up a GoFundMe page. Anyone interested in donating can search ‘Alpena U14 Hockey Team State Championship’ on GoFundMe.com.