Pee Wee B

Squad beats Saint Ignace, 4-2, in final on March 11 at Ice Mountain

It's a long way back from Burton to St. Ignace, and the trip is even longer after losing a state title game.

The Saint Ignace Pee Wee B squad learned this the hard way on March 11, when they were defeated by Iron Range, 4-2, in the state championship game at Ice Mountain arena.

Iron Range jumped to a lead early in the game and fended off the Upper Peninsula powerhouse late in the game to take the championship.

In the first period, Iron Range got on the board first when Dustin Goupille took a pass from teammate Taylor Bischoff and put it between the pipes to break the scoreless tie. The first period ended with the scoreboard reading 1-0 in favor of Iron Range.

In the second, Goupille continued to play well as he had a hand in his team's next two goals. At 14:08 of the period, he scored an unassisted goal to put Iron Range up 2-0, and then later in the period he tallied an assist on a goal by Bischoff.

Going into the final period of the game, Iron Range enjoyed a 3-0 advantage, however, St. Ignace wasn't quite ready to make that long trip back over the bridge.

The U.P. team scored two unanswered goals to put the pressure back on the Range. Early in the third Curtis St. Louis put up the first goal for his team after scoring on a pass from James Goudreau. Then with about three minutes left in the game, Goudreau got a goal of his own when he scored from Patrick Sweeny and Trevor Metz.

Still down a goal late, the St. Ignace squad was forced to pull their goalie in favor of an extra attacker. With the net empty, Iron Range scored an easy one, with just about 35 seconds remaining when Nathan Clisch found the back of the net to clinch the 4-2 win.

"We just skated really hard today," Iron Range head coach Art Goupille said. "We came out hard and got a lead and were able to keep it. I really have to give St. Ignace credit though. They came right back in it and gave us trouble. We were lucky to get the win."

Despite not getting the win, St. Ignace coach Eric Danielson said he was happy with his team's performance.

"Look, we have nothing to hang our heads about," he said. "We played very good. We came from behind and gave them a run for it. We are happy with the way we played today. A few pucks bounce a little differently and we are champs."

Pee Wee B Notebook

Iron Range’s Dustin Goupille was named the tournament MVP with four points in the final game…The championship game, which pitted St. Ignace against Iron Range, was the best matchup that fans could have hoped for, as each team was dominant on its side of the bracket. In three games, Iron Range had a scoring differential of +14, while St. Ignace was +7… Flint IMA player Mike O'Reilly had a stellar tournament with four goals, including a hat trick against Capital Centre Pride… For the Capital Centre Pride team, Conor Durgan played very well, netting three goals and four assists in his team's three games… Mike Day also had a strong showing for Capital Centre Pride, scoring four points against the Ice Mountain team, netting a hat trick plus an assist… While Goupille was the star for the Iron Range team in the finals, it was teammate Nickolas Kill who had a fine game against Ice Mountain, scoring three goals and two assists. David Terzaghi also added a hat trick and an assist in the 12-4 win. Ice Mountain's Alex Broacworth scored a goal and two assists to keep his team in the game early… Livingston's Chet Daavettila found himself with a four-goal performance against the host Ice Mountain. He also added an assist to cap off a five-point game… When Troy took on Capital Centre Pride, the Troy team came out on top 6-4. The win was in large part thanks to Michael Fisher's four goals. Matthew Denny also had a great game with two goals and two assists…St. Ignace edged out Capital Centre Pride 6-5 in the early rounds of the tourney, buoyed by the fine play of Patrick Sweeney, who had two goals, and Cody Therrian, who had two assists.

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