Local Sports

Pair of youth champions: Marquette’s American Legion, Active Physical Therapy win Iron Sticks hockey titles

Marquette’s American Legion, Active Physical Therapy win Iron Sticks hockey titles

MARQUETTE -- A pair of Marquette-based teams won youth hockey championships at the Daren Hillier Memorial Iron Sticks Tournament held at Lakeview Arena in Marquette from Oct. 23-25.

With play held in three age divisions, the local winners were the American Legion team in the 14-under, traditionally known as Bantams, and the Active Physical Therapy team in 10-under, in past times called Squirts.

The third winner was the Traverse City North Stars in the 12-under, which commonly has been called Peewees.

With the event's 18 teams also coming from the Copper Country, Lower Peninsula and Wisconsin, there were several identically named teams in multiple divisions.

Each champion won its finals game held on the last day after also winning in the semifinals, which had followed three games of pool play the first two days of the event.

Two other Marquette County teams also played. Marquette Superior Hockey in 12U went 2-1 in pool play, knocking off Saginaw Junior Spirit 7-4 and Orchard Lake Red of the Pontiac area 8-0 after losing its opener to the TC North Stars 4-1.

Superior Hockey then bowed out in the semifinals to Fox Valley of Wisconsin 4-1.

The Iron Range Miners of Negaunee playing in 10U went 1-2, defeating the TC North Stars 10-0 before falling to Detroit-area Little Caesars 8-2 and Appleton, Wisconsin, 6-2.

But the Iron Rangers still qualified for the semifinals, where they lost to the Calumet Junior Kings 5-1.

Here are more details about the title runs:

Legion 14-U

The Marquette Legion team went undefeated in its five games, opening pool play with a 5-2 victory over the TC North Stars, then pulled out a 4-3 win over the Saginaw Junior Spirit and ended the pool with a 7-0 shutout of the Rockford Rams of the Grand Rapids area.

That placed Legion in the semifinals on Sunday morning and it took a more decisive victory in a rematch with the Saginaw team, 7-2.

Then in the finals Sunday afternoon, Legion downed the Calumet Junior Kings 7-2.

Cooper Chapman was named MVP of the championship, scoring three goals and adding two assists for a five-point game.

In the finals, Chapman scored in the early going, but Calumet answered with back-to-back goals less than five minutes apart to take a 2-1 lead after one period, each of its goals coming on power plays.

But the Marquette boys netted the only two goals of the second period to retake a 3-2 advantage headed to the final period. Those goals were scored by Jacob Mattila even-strength and Chapman on a power play just 54 seconds apart in the second half of the period.

Legion really dominated in the third, knocking in four unanswered goals. While Chapman score early in the period, Finn Bennett and Dallin Fisher scored just 33 seconds apart mid-period before Levi Pond tucked in a power play tally in the final five minutes.

Mattila and Karson Miron each had two assists in the finale as Marquette netminder Liam Turner earned the victory, though saves totals weren't available.

For the tourney, Chapman led all scorers in 14U with 13 points as he had seven goals and six assists, also the top assist total throughout all three age groups.

Mattila and Pond each had eight points, Mattila on four goals and four assists, while Pond had five goals and three assists.

APT 10-U

Marquette Active Physical Therapy had a tougher route getting to the semifinals, losing its final pool play game but still advancing.

APT opened with a 5-3 win over Appleton, then blasted the TC North Stars 13-0. That was followed by Active Physical Therapy losing its final pool play game 4-2 to Little Caesars.

But the Marquette crew was able to turn the tables hours later in the Saturday night semifinals, beating Little Caesars 3-2 in a rematch to advance to the finals.

In the semis, APT built a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes on a pair of goals from Mitchell Taylor, then allowed one goal later that period, and after Marquette's Kyson Glenn made it 3-1, one more Little Caesars goal came in the second.

Theodore Geschwindt got the victory in the APT net.

In the championship match, the Marquette boys blanked the Calumet Junior Kings 3-0.

APT scored in each period -- Jack Liles in the first and second, with Austin Fure doing the deed in the third.

Taaviano Gemignani earned the goaltending victory.

Marquette's overall top scorer was listed as Charles Dix with four goals and four assists for eight points, teammate Milo Gobert with three goals and four assists for seven points, and Brett Baker with two goals and four assists for six points.

Story contents based on an examination of the GameSheet website at www.gamesheetinc.com. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.