After a heartbreaking loss in the 2022 Northern Lights League tournament final, Big Bay de Noc Head Coach Alex Ranguette promised himself that they would never lose like that again.
“We had flashbacks to last year losing, losing to Ojibwe in a shootout,” he said. “We’ve practice for (shootouts) a lot, because we knew what it might come down to.”
In front of the home crowd, Big Bay de Noc defeated the Munising Baptist Bobcats 2-0 in a shootout after the two teams played to a scoreless draw in regular time.
The Black Bears continued to put good offensive opportunities together, putting 20 shots on goal in the final and missing high or wide on another 18 more. But the league’s best offense led by Nick Desjardin, Joel Gillespie, Braedon Thill and Grace VanWormer never found the back of the net.
“Because we have a powerhouse offense, every team we’ve played has stacked people in the box and it’s hard to score,” Ranguette said.
For the shootout, Ranguette shifted Thomas Barnhizer out of net for Desjardin. The move played out for the home team after Desjardin and Gillespie scored while Desjardin stopped three of the Bobcats shots.
For the Bobcats, Head Coach Hunter MacArthur is pleased with his squad, especially after the injuries sustained throughout the day. Multiple players including the team’s only senior and second forward were injured and unable to play in the final.
“It was a rough game the last one, but they played very well and I’m very proud of what they accomplished this year,” he said.
With Big Bay graduating eight, while Hannahville, Ojibwe and Mackinac Island graduating four each, MacArthur said the talent developing for the Bobcats will put them at the top of the heap next season.
“I think next year is going to be our year. I’m really excited We played all of this last game without our only senior. We played great all the way up until the end. The shootout didn’t go our way, but I think with the way we only lost two players in the last two years and the other teams seeing a lot of seniors rotate out, I think you’re going to see Munising Baptist back on top,” MacArthur said.
Ranguette agreed that the Black Bears will look different next season, but the team will enjoy every moment of this championship until next year.
“They played their heart out every game we’ve had. With eight seniors going, it’s going to look a lot different next year, but we’re excited with the way the season went this year,” Ranguette said.
Semifinals: Munising Baptist 1 Mackinac Island 0 Baptist goaltender Ethan Swift was the star of the semifinal, as the eighth grader stopped all 24 shots on goal from the Mackinac Island Lakers.
“He kept us in this tournament. We should have had three or four goals against us against Mackinac,” Coach MacArthur said. “There were free kicks, one just right outside the box, and he’s making miraculous saves.”
The senior-led Lakers had plenty of talent on the roster, including all-NLL midfielder Derby Kromer, one of the favorites to win the 400-meter dash at the UP track finals in Vincent Davis and the Gruits brothers, who have been lockdown defenders all season long. Except for a split at the beginning of the year with Big Bay de Noc, the Lakers had not fallen to an NLL opponent all season.
But just like Swift, it was the youth that gave a big boost for the Bobcats. Alex Frederick, the smallest player in the entire tournament, filled in at forward after injuries. During a free kick with just 17 seconds remaining, Laker goalie Lakelyn Bunker bobbled the ball. Frederick took the loose ball and kicked it towards goal with Dylan Swift crashing the net to make sure Bunker didn’t have another chance to grab it. The pair scored with just 12 seconds remaining.
Frederick, just a sixth grader, said the play was completely instinctual.
“I almost saw it go in and I went for it and kicked it in,” he said.
MacArthur said the win was something Frederick could be proud of his entire career with the Bobcats.
“That’s the kind of thing you dream about as a player and a coach, to win a game on a buzzer like that, especially in a tournament,” the coach said. “For a young guy like Alex being in sixth grade, it means even more.”
Quarterfinals: Grand Marais 1 Munising Baptist 4 The tournament seeding set up another great H-58 rivalry entry between the Bobcats and the Polar Bears. Munising Baptist won both of the first matchups, but it was the first two games of the year for a much-improved Grand Marais squad.
Ethan Bell started the scoring with a strong run to the left corner before getting around a defender and attacking the net. It was an even game for the first 20 minutes before Bell’s goal.
“We played a little slow against Grand Marais, but they woke up and realized that we had to take this seriously and they did that,” MacArthur said.
Dylan Swift was able to break out on a counter attack just before halftime to go into the break 1-1. Maloney scored twice and Swift added a fourth goal to make a 4-1 victory. Polar Bear goalie Will Paul had 14 saves on 18 shots on goal. Swift had five saves in the quarterfinals.
