WELLS - This is not the start the L'Anse Purple Hornets were hoping for Tuesday afternoon.
The Purple Hornets, who fell behind by four goals in the first period, dropped a 6-0 hockey decision to the Escanaba Eskymos in the championship game of the Dick Johnsen Memorial tournament at the Wells Sports Complex.
Things went better for Jeffers, which rallied past Negaunee 5-3 in the consolation game.
Esky senior forward Josh Miller opened the scoring from point blank range just two minutes, 57 seconds into the title contest.
Junior forward Ryan Meintz gave the Eskymos a two-goal cushion on a rebound at 7:40 and hit his second goal from the doorstep for a 3-0 lead at 9:43.
Esky's advantage then reached 4-0 on Jared Dagenais' shorthanded goal on a breakaway with 51 seconds left in the opening period.
"We got caught in our zone much of the first period," said L'Anse coach Bill Rosseau. "We started running around and not playing our positions. The kids got frustrated."
Esky (6-4), winner of four straight, extended its cushion to 5-0 midway through the second period when sophomore defenseman Nick Vandermissen ired a slapshot from the slot during a 5-on-3 power play.
Junior defenseman Cody Cousineau finished the scoring halfway through the third stanza by going top shelf from the slot.
The Eskymos outshot L'Anse 9-7 in the opening 17 minutes, scoring on three of their first four shots, and finished with a 28-13 shot advantage, much of which coach Charlie Elliott attributed to their defense.
"The guys were very good in our zone," he said. "They worked well in pairs and cleared the puck real well. We have a fine group of young men who are starting to understand what it takes to be successful."
An aggressive penalty kill also proved effective for Esky as L'Anse (3-3) came up empty on six power plays.
"We started looking for the picture-perfect play," said Rosseau. "The first period killed us and we never recovered from that. After that, we didn't shoot the puck."
Esky junior goaltender Austin Young stopped all 13 shots Tuesday and 22 in Monday's 2-0 conquest of Jeffers.
"Their goaltender did an excellent job," said Rosseau. "Escanaba has a nice team. They're well disciplined and well coached."
Senior forward Dano Goldsworthy scored a hat trick for Jeffers (3-8), including left angle shots 3:39 and 5:50 into the third frame to pull the Jets within 3-2.
Freshman forward Tyler Bailey tied the contest on a rebound from the doorstep with six minutes left in the contest and Goldsworthy gave the Jets a 4-3 lead on a rebound with 2:49 remaining.
Sophomore defenseman Matt Mantta's empty-net goal with one tick left on the clock finished the scoring.
"We knew if we didn't get one (goal) quick, we'd have a tough time scoring," said Jets' coach Dave Bekkala. "I think instead of trying to make the picture perfect goal, we went out and worked hard. Our leaders led. The kids were doing what they needed to be doing. We hadn't scored for five periods in this tournament. We were pleased to finally get that monkey off our back."
Sophomore center Alex Ledford opened the scoring from inside the left faceoff circle 6:51 into the contest and Cody Erickson's unassisted goal gave the Miners a 2-0 lead just 28 seconds later.
Negaunee (0-12) then raised the count to 3-0 on Will Hetrick's rebound from the doorstep 10:55 into the second frame.
"Our forecheck worked well a number of times," said Negaunee coach Fred Dick. "Getting some goals also helped. But with only two lines, the kids got pretty tired in the end. This is all part of the learning process. Hopefully, the kids now understand what it takes. This was a great effort on their part. We're proud of the effort our kids gave."
Jeffers outshot the Miners 31-24. Senior Dylan Sever and freshman Dax Durocher combined for 21 saves. Negaunee junior Austin Rice stopped 26 shots.
"The Negaunee goaltender was outstanding," said Bekkala. "My heart really goes out to him. He made some excellent plays."
Jeffers is idle until Jan. 6 when it hosts Kingsford at Michigan Tech. L'Anse resumes Monday at Negaunee.