For co-captain Cody Sivonen, finally winning the Gibson Cup meant bonding as a group in a way that he could not quite describe.

“It’s extremely special,” he said. “I mean, you look at everyone out here still celebrating, trying to get the locker room. But, this group of guys, it’s something special to win that, and now we’re bonded for life.”

Sivonen scored a goal each night, including the second goal of the game Saturday at 15:52 of the opening frame, doing everything he could to help pull the Pioneers over the top and to the series win.

“I just try to do what I can, just work hard when the opportunity comes,” he said. “Hopefully I get one, and I got two of them this weekend. So at least I helped.”

Calumet goaltender Tyler Hubbard tracks a puck near him during Game Two of the Gibson Cup series against Portage Lake Saturday at Dee Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

For players like Sivonen, co-captain Charlie Turner, defensemen Ross Rouleau and Matt Marchel, winning the Cup on the ice at Dee Stadium was very exciting, especially over the game’s final two minutes, where the crowd did what it could to cheer the Pioneers to the win as well.

However, the Wolverines did not make it easy. Almost every game during the season was a battle between the two teams. Three games went into overtime and two of those went to a shootout. Saturday night, the Wolverines twice trailed by two goals, but coach Bruce Coppo felt that his team played hard to the end.

“Injuries really hurt us this year,” said Coppo. “We had a lot of issues through the year that we couldn’t keep a team playing close together. But, I’ll tell you, the last two weekends, from the people we had here, they gave it all they had. So, my hat’s off to my hockey players for playing as hard as they do.”

Coming off the four-goal victory on Friday, the Pioneers knew they wanted to get off to a fast start Saturday, and they did just that, striking just 28 seconds into the contest. Spencer Donnelly, who started the game for Portage Lake between Brett Hauswirth and Anthony Harris, struck with a quick wrist shot from the slot that both of his wingers assisted on.

“It was extremely important (to get the first goal),” said Donnelly. “I mean, first of all, the nerves for these games are, as it’s been said all week, (they’re) the most important games all year. This is exactly what we play for. I told the guys last night in the locker room, I said, ‘I’ve been waiting for these games for a whole year.’

Portage Lake center Dawson McKay (8) protects the puck from Calumet forward Ayden Williams (16) during Game Two of the Gibson Cup series against Portage Lake Saturday at Dee Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

“It just means that much to us, and to get that first one right away, it just takes that pressure off. You’re not playing with nerves, and you can just play your game, and everything goes from there.”

For Donnelly, getting the chance to play for the Cup on Saturday was the biggest moment of his career since he was a part of the Houghton Gremlins squad that won a regional title.

“On that face off down there at the end, I mean, literally I had chills, because you don’t get that kind of crowd, and it’s men’s league hockey, (but) it’s good,” Donnelly said. “At the end of the day, to get a crowd showing, to have that kind of energy, even the ref said, Geez, it’s loud in here.” I was like, ‘I love it.'”

After Sivonen put the Pioneers up 2-0, Carson Kariniemi cut the lead in half with a shot from the high slot 3:01 later, pulling Calumet back into the contest.

Despite the goal, the Pioneers regrouped in the locker room between periods and came out with a renewed effort in the middle frame. Harris found some space in the slot 2:21 in and he redirected a puck home to put Portage Lake back up by two.

Marchel, who scored two goals and an assist on Friday night, picked up another assist on the goal.

The game remained 3-1 in favor of the Pioneers until late in the period when Wolverines winger Michael Babcock fired a shot from the high slot that Portage Lake goaltender Drew Eaton could not quite squeeze off. The puck found a way through him, and Mikko Karstu jumped in and knocked it into the net at 17:09.

A week earlier, the Wolverines, who trailed a Great Lakes Hockey League semifinal game against the Pioneers by a goal after two periods, struck less than a minute into the third period to tie the game. With flashbacks of that moment in their minds between periods, the Pioneers made sure to keep that from happening again.

“It was just about getting back to our game plan, getting the pucks in deep, going to work,” said Sivonen. “It seemed like they didn’t want to go get the puck in the corner, and we did. So, just getting back to our original game plan and working hard.”

In the game’s final two minutes, the Pioneers were twice whistled for penalties, setting up a three-man advantage after the Wolverines pulled goaltender Tyler Hubbard. However, despite the extra attackers, Calumet could not get one more puck through Eaton to even the contest before the final buzzer sounded.

Eaton finished his night with 32 saves to earn the win. Hubbard made 34 saves in the loss.

Defense gets offensive Friday

CALUMET — The first four goals the Pioneers scored Friday night at the Calumet Colosseum were scored by defensemen, and goaltender Marcus Gloss made 30 saves on 31 Wolverines’ shots as Portage Lake skated away with a 5-1 win.

The Pioneers, who were just five days removed from a disappointing 6-1 loss to Mosinee in the GLHL playoff championship game, knew they needed to play better Friday night, and that effort showed throughout the contest.

“You need to get Game One,” he said. “We talked before, the emotional toll that the series takes on everybody. It just means so much, and so much fun. It’s good to have one in the back pocket.

“I think that Sunday was the best thing that could have happened, because that team was big, strong, fast, scary, intimidating. Guys were just buzzing today, and I think getting spanked on Sunday had a lot to do with the effort we had tonight.”

Marchel struck first just 4:21 into the contest with a shot from the slot that climbed up and over Hubbard’s blocker and in. His second goal came 11:11 into the second period to put Portage Lake up 3-1.

“That’s part of learning what we did wrong last week. No one was going to the net. Everyone went to the net today. (We) shoot from the point today and pucks just go in. It’s no coincidence that the puck is going from the point when there are guys in front. It’s the way it works, and we didn’t do that last week.”

In between Marchel’s first goal, and a goal from defenseman Jack Fenton to regain a one-goal lead for Portage Lake, Calumet center Brent Loukus evened things with a wrist shot from the right side of the slot.

It was the best look Loukus had all night long as Portage Lake found ways to match Marchel and Rouleau against him after that the rest of the night.

“They boxed out well,” said Loukus. “They played the body whenever they could, which is what you need to do in these type of games. It’s a close, grind-it-out game. They play bodies well. They were good in the neutral zone. (We) couldn’t get really much off the rush.”

Rouleau scored the Pioneers’ fourth goal at 16:19 of the middle frame.

Sivonen added to the Pioneers’ lead with a goal 7:14 into the third period. That goal proved key as it allowed Gloss a chance to breathe and focus himself to give Portage Lake the best effort he could over the game’s final 20 minutes.

“The guys in front of me played really well,” said Gloss. “They just let me see the puck. Our guys just let me see the puck all night, gave me help, cleared out rebounds, and made it as easy as possible for me.”

Hubbard made 25 saves on the night before leaving the game with an upper-body injury. Jason Carne came in and made 10 saves over the game’s final 12:46 to keep the score from getting any worse for the Wolverines.

Focus on next year

As Wolverines captain Logan Rastello pointed out before the Gibson Cup series, the team that wins the trophy does not want to give it away the following year, so they will focus their efforts to hang onto it.

Next season, the Pioneers will have the home ice advantage, but that does not mean that the Wolverines are not going to give up without a fight.

“The rivalry is good,” Coppo said. “We all gather on the streets in the summer, but it’s a different story in the winter. We want to beat each other. It’s a good rivalry.”

While it seems that the Cup stays in one place for multiple seasons, the Wolverines would love nothing more than to break that cycle next season.

“You know, this Gibson Cup seems like they go in cycles,” said Coppo, “somebody wins for two years, and then the next team. We’ll try and break that next year.”

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