Alpena Hockey Wins 14th Straight on Purple Night
ALPENA, MI- While the Alpena Wildcats treated yet another capacity crowd at Northern Lights Arena to their 14th win in a row, the game took a back seat to an even greater cause.
Teaming up with Friends Together Alpena, the Wildcats honored those who have fought and continue to fight battles with cancer. Players from both teams held up signs pre game with the names of loved ones who have battled cancer. Alexis Liske, a 2022 Alpena High School graduate and cancer survivor dropped the ceremonial opening puck.
The Wildcats took a few minutes to get going but once they did there was no letting up. Reid Meinhardt scored his 14th goal of the season to get the Wildcats on the board. A few minutes later Anden Marceau scored on a set play off a faceoff, taking a full ice pass from Brody Thompson to score his 21st of the year.
The Wildcats would score four times in the first and would score four times in the second. The final goal came with 13 seconds to go in the second as Cam Young scored for the second time in the game. The game would end via the mercy rule. Alpena was victorious by a final score of 8-0.
“We started a bit slow, we were throwing the puck away not being patient. Second period was much better, crisp passing and we moved the puck better” said Head Coach Ben Henry.
Aidan Schultz picked up his sixth shutout of the last month, it was the fourth shutout in a row for the Wildcats. The team has won their last four games by a combined score of 33-0.
The team now prepares for their final showcase of the season. The MIHL showcase will feature 8 of the top 10 teams in the Michigan Super 10 rankings. The Wildcats take on Trenton on Friday, the will battle University Liggett on Saturday morning.
