Hancock forward Ian Nordstrom tracks a puck in the offensive zone during a game against Bay Port Saturday at the Houghton County Arena in Hancock. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HANCOCK — After getting off to some sluggish starts in recent games, the Hancock Bulldogs hockey team had the type of start they were looking for on Saturday in a tough matchup with the No. 2 (in Wisconsin) Bay Port Pirates at the Houghton County Arena. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that good start was not enough to overcome some struggles in the middle frame that led to a 5-0 win by the Pirates.

Despite being outshot 6-2 and being behind 1-0 after 17 minutes, coach Kyle Hauswirth was happy with where the Bulldogs were as they left the ice surface for the friendly confines of their locker room during the first intermission.

“I thought that the shots didn’t reflect the first period,” he said. “I thought it was a pretty even period myself. Our first period was good, our second was, you know, not very good.”

The Bulldogs went toe-to-toe with the bigger, faster Pirates, and gave the visitors all they could handle until sophomore center Max Heinonen was whistled for a penalty at 15:31. The Pirates, who proved Friday night to be deadly on the man advantage against Houghton, won the offensive zone draw and moved the puck around until Noah Brunke got it at the right point. Brunke fired quickly and Will Lyons got to it and redirected the puck past Bulldogs goaltender Daniel Wroblewski at 16:15.

Hancock (11-9 overall) started the second period much like they did the first, but their effort took a turn when, in Hauswirth’s opinion, the team got more focused on what the referees were calling, instead of what the Pirates were doing. Five minutes into the period, Pirates winger Ryan Hilbert cross checked sophomore winger Ian Nordstrom near the neck. While Nordstrom was down on the ice, the Pirates forced a turnover.

Hilbert rejoined the play, got the puck, and fed it to Mason Spejcher behind Wroblewski’s net. Spejcher moved it out to Aiden Fahey, who buried it at 5:27.

The sequence of the missed call at center ice and the ensuing goal caused the Bulldogs to unravel.

“I think that we got worried about other things than the game itself,” Hauswirth said. “So, I think that’s where it came from. We just got away from our identity.”

The Bulldogs were awarded a major power play at 6:07. Hancock struggled to generate scoring chances throughout the advantage. Hauswirth called a time out about three minutes into the power play, but even that was not enough to help the Bulldogs get their focus back.

Disaster struck a minute and a half later. Elliot Mikesch, the son of former Michigan Tech Huskies player Pat Mikesch, scored a shorthanded goal at 10:35.

Just 56 seconds later, Will Lyons battled a rebound past Wroblewski for his second of the afternoon.

Early in the third period, senior defenseman Mich Cora took a penalty, putting the Pirates back on the power play. During the advantage, Mikesch fired a shot on goal that Wroblewski had to sprawl out to stop. The rebound kicked right to Sam Lyons, who buried it at 5:17, sealing the win for the visitors.

From there, the Bulldogs struggled to create much offensively. It took 9:29 for them to get a shot on goal, but senior winger David Olson did get a quality scoring chance from the left circle that Devin Rustlie had to hang to. Olson got another look on his next shift, this time from the right hash marks off a pass, and he was again stopped by Rustlie.

Wroblewski made 17 saves in the loss for the Bulldogs.

Bulldogs score four to top Voyageurs

Friday night, the Bulldogs scored twice in the second and twice more in the third period to earn a 4-1 win over the DePere Voyageurs at the Houghton County Arena.

The two teams combined for just 11 shots in the opening frame. In the second period, Hancock poured on the offense, throwing 16 shots on goal.

Zach Geborkoff broke through with a goal 8:08 in, unassisted. Nordstrom added the second goal at 10:21 off a feed from junior center Bryce Hanner.

In the third period, alternate captain Brady Galetto sandwiched a goal by the Voyageurs with tallies at 9:57 and 15:16, to put the game out of reach.

Junior Saku Cunard made 14 saves to earn the win for the Bulldogs.

Up next

Hancock will host Calumet on Tuesday at the Houghton County Arena. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.