By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
ASHWAUBENON—Exactly 15 days ago Bay Port dropped their last hockey game to Homestead.
The rematch on Jan. 12 took on a different course as the Pirates defeated the Highlanders by a final of 5-1.
Bryson Hyska, Aaron Ribar, Nick Messerschmidt, Carl Cano, and Tyler Brady all tallied goals for Bay Port.
Riley Baye was again stout in goal for the Pirates as he stopped 22 of 23 shots sent in on him.
“We picked up two really good wins the last 2 days,” said Mike Buchan, Bay Port head coach. “Whenever you can beat Neenah and Homestead in succession, you’re doing something right.”
Homestead’s lone goal was by standout Pierce Stastney who came into the contest with 23 goals in just 16 games played.
The Highlanders top line came into the contest with 132 points on the season and managed just two on the night.
Tommy Buchanan made 25 saves in net for the Highlanders
The Highlanders Joey Buenz had the game’s first golden chance after he went one-on-one with Baye but shot the puck wide-right of the net.
With 10:11 left in the opening period, Highlanders Cam Kranich took a five-minute major boarding penalty and despite the Pirates getting nine shots in on goal the first 4:42 of the penalty not one went past Buchanan who was filling in for injured starter Chase Kolega. That was until the 5:29 mark when Hyska jabbed at the puck not once but twice in front to notch the first goal of the game.
The Pirates quickly took a bad penalty and the Highlanders evened the game at one just 48 seconds later when Gavin Henry wheeled around the net and flung a centering pass to Stastney who beat Baye with the slapper.
Literally, seconds before the first intermission (8.4 to be exact) the Pirates went up 2-1 after Ribar won a face-off near the far boards and used his strength and puck skills to wheel right in on Buchanan and go top-shelf.
“That second goal definitely gave us some momentum,” Buchan added. “You could feel the energy in the locker room during the break.”
The Highlanders remained resilient for much of the second period, but then the Pirates put the game away late after they scored with 4:29 and 1:29 remaining in the middle stanza to go up 4-1.
With 14:00 left in the game, the Pirates scored one last time after Brady wheeled around the right wing of the goal and put home the puck on a wrap-around (the puck quickly went into the net and then exited back into the pads of Buchanan). After a lengthy review by the three officials they gave the signal ‘goal’ much to the dismay of the Highlander’s coaching staff and fanbase that traveled up for the game.
Next up the Pirates will travel to Michigan where they will take on Hancock and Houghton Jan. 18 and 19.
Box Score:
Homestead: 1, 0, 0—1
Bay Port: 2, 2, 1—5
Shots on Goal:
Highlanders: 5, 6, 12—23
Pirates: 16, 8, 6—30
