Earlier in the season, the Eureka hockey team may not have been able to respond. But the Wildcats are definitely in a different mindset these days.
With just under four minutes remaining in a Mid-States Club Hockey Association game against Northwest Friday at the Fenton Forum Ice Arena, the Lions rallied to force a tie at 2-2 on a breakaway goal by Ryan Lindsey.
But sophomore James Franklin said there were no shoulders slumping on the Eureka bench.
“We just kept our heads up and kept playing,” Franklin said.
And Eureka kept shooting the puck. With 1:40 left, Northwest goaltender Clayton Davis got a pad on the shot by Eureka defenseman Adam Bailey, but Franklin buried the rebound into the back of the net, giving the Wildcats a 3-2 win.
“A nicely placed shot, right off his pads, came right to my stick, and I just had to make sure I put it home,” said Franklin, who is second on the team with six goals.
It was the fourth straight win to close out the regular season for Eureka (4-14-3), which is seeded 15th in the Wickenheiser Cup.
“We were fed up,” Franklin said of the Wildcats’ turnaround. “We shouldn’t have only four wins, and we all know that, but now we’re ready to take control. We couldn’t go the whole season without a win, and since we got that first one, we’ve been rolling.”
Northwest finished the regular season 6-12-3 and is the No. 3 seed in the Founders Cup.
“From two years ago going 0-26 to a few wins last year, a lot more this year, we’re heading in the right direction,” Northwest head coach Ziggy Ziegler said. “All I’m going to tell the boys is it’s time to get ready for playoffs.”
The final score could have been much worse for the Lions if not for the play of Davis, who stopped 37 of 40 Eureka shots. Northwest had 18 shots on goal.
“We wouldn’t be in half of these games if it wasn’t for Clayton,” Ziegler said. “I mean, he’s lights out. He is the backbone of this team.”
Similar to the team’s late-season upswing, Eureka didn’t really start to turn on the pressure until the game was over halfway through. Near the midpoint of the second period, the Wildcats had a slight 14-12 edge in shots, but they outshot Northwest 9-0 through the rest of the second period, then 17-6 in the third.
“Eureka’s a very fast team,” Ziegler said. “They have a handful of kids over there who are very fast and very talented. I think we held our own in the first period, but after that, they just wore us down. They killed us on shots.”
Northwest took a 1-0 lead 8:16 into the game. Lindsey skated out of the corner with the puck and sent a pass into the slot that deflected back near the blue line. Benjamin Reece stepped into a shot that was redirected by Sean Duda past Eureka goaltender Michael Boyer for his second goal of the season.
“With him being a senior – and he got his first goal ever three games ago – it was great to see him get a goal on Senior Night,” Ziegler said. “That’s a great accomplishment for him.”
Boyer kept Northwest from adding to its lead with a handful of big saves over the next few minutes. A loose puck found Lions sophomore Alac Gamble alone in front of the net but Boyer made the save. With Northwest on a power play, Boyer stopped Logan Gott on a dangerous chance from the left circle, then stymied Gamble on his stuff-in attempt from behind the net.
“First period, we were a little lazy, especially in our own zone,” Eureka coach Kevin Markovitz said. “Right off the faceoff, we were letting our guys go, so that’s something we felt we had to correct for the second and third periods.”
Eureka also needed to get on the scoreboard, and Franklin would get things started with 2:13 remaining in the second period. A few moments after his hustle helped the Wildcats avoid an icing call, Franklin skated off of the side boards with the puck to the top of the circle, then fooled Davis with a wrist shot between the netminder’s legs.
“We tell the guys to shoot, shoot, shoot,” Markovitz said. “And tough luck for their goaltender. I’m sure he wanted that one back, and he didn’t deserve, based on the way he played, for that to go in.”
Then with 18.5 seconds left in the period, Eureka took its first lead at 2-1. Sophomore Jacob Fenn sent the puck into a crowd in the slot, and after it hit off his skates, Bryce Phillips was able to get a shot off. Davis made the initial save, but Fenn crashed through the crease to get the rebound and tucked it behind Davis.
“I think three out of the last four games, he’s gotten a goal just like that,” Markovitz said. “He just knows where to be and he stands his ground. He’s not a big kid, but he’s good with his hands and he’s able to stuff it in.”
With 3:55 remaining, Lindsey skated in alone with the puck after a bad bounce skipped past Eureka defenseman Blake Bayless at the point, and his high shot beat goaltender Bradley Bisaga, who had replaced Boyer for the third period, to knot the score.
“Nine out of 10 times, he’s going to score there,” Ziegler said. “He’s got the hands, he’s got the speed.”
But Eureka got the win, as Franklin scored on the rebound just over two minutes later.
“These boys just don’t want to lose anymore,” Markovitz said. “They’ve had a long season with a lot of losses, but we’ve lightened things up. We’ve said, ‘There’s nothing else to do but to go out there and have fun and try to win the games,’ and they’ve really loosened up. They’re not afraid to make mistakes, and their attitude has changed for the better. I think we’re going to surprise a few people here in the postseason.”