LocalSportsJournal
TAWAS — With only 11 skaters, and one goalie, the Lakeshore Badgers co-op ice hockey team needs to play a clean game if they hope to have any success.
That didn’t happen Friday night when the Badgers dropped the puck on the 2021-22 regular season with a 8-4 loss to Southgate Anderson at the Tawas Area Arena.
Lakeshore stayed close to Southgate throughout the first period, coming from behind to tie the score on two separate occasions. But things went south in for the Badgers in the second period.
“We played well, except the penalties in the second period,” Badgers head coach Bill Shriver said. “We took four penalties in three minutes. We don’t have the horses to be on the penalty kill so much.
“Other than that, we did okay. When we were playing 5-on-5 it was good hockey. A couple of those penalties in the second period we shouldn’t have taken. We’ll clean that up.”
Southgate was coming off a 8-0 loss to Trenton in its season opener on Wednesday.
Four different players got in on the scoring for the Badgers, who are playing this year as an independent.
Mason County Central junior Austin Quillan netted the first Badgers goal, which tied the score, 1-1.
Ludington sophomore Rylan Mirretti’s goal lifted the Badgers into a 2-2 tie.
Ludington senior Sawyer Smith had the third Badger goal, the first of his varsity career, and Mason County Eastern freshman Brandon Austin scored a short-handed goal unassisted to close the Badgers’ scoring for the game.
“We didn’t give up, which was good,” Shriver said. “Offensively, we had ample scoring opportunities. We gave ourselves lots of chances.
“Defensively, we played well but for the penalties that we gave up. That was the difference in the game, the penalties, there’s no question.”
