Escanaba senior Cale carter (right) buries a goal during a game against Marquette on Nov. 22, 2024 at the Wells Sports Complex. ("The Big Dog" Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

WELLS — Well after the final horn sounded at the Wells Sports Complex, members of the Escanaba hockey team made their way out of the locker room to meet with friends, family and classmates.

On this specific night, there was a lot to celebrate.

First, it was the Eskymos’ first home game of the 2024 season. Finding an empty seat in the bleachers was trickier than finding Waldo in Where’s Waldo.

Want to stand near the boards next to the ice? Fans and students were squeezed in like sardines with some spots being multiple people deep.

Friday was also the 18th birthday for senior forward Cale Carter, who earned the game puck and hardhat after the game.

Then there’s the biggest part of Friday night: a 3-1 win over Marquette.

To those who don’t follow high school hockey in the Upper Peninsula the final score isn’t a big deal. But for those who follow both teams closely, they know exactly what Friday’s win meant.

For the first time in nine years, when a large portion of the Eskymos’ roster was still learning division and multiplication for the first time, the Eskymos defeated Marquette.

“It felt great to be the (team) that got it, but it’s just a great team win,” junior forward Owen LaBonte said. “Everybody did their part and worked their tails off.”

Esky struck first when Graham Johnson, off a pass from Nick Martinson, rifled the team’s first shot of the game. Coincidentally, it also served as the game’s first goal to give the home team a crucial 1-0 lead.

But less than five minutes later a costly Eskymo turnover in their own zone led to Marquette junior Braydon O’Dovero swiping the puck, needing to beat Esky goalie Cully Hayes. O’Dovero snuck the puck past Hayes, and suddenly everything was even at 1-1, a score which held until the first intermission.

“We needed to get in the locker room,” Esky junior defensman and co-captain Nolan Bink said. “We hadn’t beat Marquette in nine years. This was our best shot.”

The Eskymos didn’t waste any time to start the second period. Marquette goaltender Cole Kelly, as Queen and David Bowie would say, was under pressure.

Esky found comfort in Marquette’s zone, peppering Kelly with shot after shot. In fact, Esky claimed 11 of the second period’s first 12 shots on goal and outshot the Sentinels 16-6 in the second stanza.

While the Eskymos didn’t break through on the scoreboard, they carried momentum into the third period. A period in which everything changed for the orange and black. And changed for the better.

Bink controlled the puck in Marquette’s zone early in the third period, looking for a passing lane of any sorts. While his eyes were looking for a lane, his ears picked up someone yelling. It came from a voice he knows well.

LaBonte.

Bink passed the puck to LaBonte, who fired the puck at Kelly. But as Kelly read the shot, the puck deflected off a Sentinels defender and snuck inside the net.

With 11:25 to go, Esky led 2-1 on a goal which LaBonte proclaimed he would do on the bench second before he went out for his shift.

“He told me on the bench right before he went out there ‘I’m going to get one here,'” Esky coach Andy Johnson recalls. “I was like ‘alright, let’s go.’ Then he went out and got one. I was so happy for him to get a goal in a big game.”

Less than two minutes later the Eskymos had another quality scoring chance. Once again, Bink had the puck on his stick.

It was a 2-on-1 scenario in Marquette’s zone. Flaked to Bink’s right was the birthday boy himself. It’s a scenario which Bink and Carter practice constantly. With Kelly staring down Bink, the junior co-captain slid the puck over to Carter, who buried the one-time opportunity like clockwork.

With 10:06 remaining in the game Escanaba led Marquette 3-1.

“It was amazing,” Carter said while being mobbed with Happy Birthday wishes from nearly every Escanaba hockey supporter. “Nolan set me up well with a nice play. It was crazy. That goal set the tone for the rest of the game.”

The game’s final 10 minutes didn’t come easy. In fact, the final 3:45 of game action saw Marquette have multiple man advantage opportunities.

Esky junior Keagan Braun was sent to the penalty bow for slashing. The Eskymos killed off the penalty, seemingly suffocating Marquette’s power play.

The Eskymos returned to full strength, but went down a man 22 seconds later when junior Carson Hughes was sent to the sin bin for tripping.

All that stood in Esky’s way of finally slaying Marquette was 83 seconds of being on the wrong end of a 6-on-4 Marquette advantage with Kelly pulled to the bench for an extra attacker. But the Eskymos penalty kill proved to be too much, ultimately killing off the Sentinels’ third and final power play of the game.

The final horn sounded. The Eskymos won 3-1. And after shaking hands with the Sentinels and doing their traditional clap of the stick to the ice to the home fans in the bleachers, it was a straight bolt to the student section.

“We did all the right things,” Andy Johnson said. “These guys did everything we asked. It was kind of easy for us coaches because they were doing everything we asked in the last three weeks of practice.

“I can’t say enough about how these boys played.”

Despite the schools being less than 70 miles apart, this will be the only meeting between the two. Marquette is set in Division 2 for the MHSAA postseason. Escanaba is in Division 3. It was the orange and black’s lone shot at mighty Marquette.

They didn’t just hit the board. They hit the bullseye

“We think we have one of the best teams we’ve had in a while,” Bink said. “(marquette) is always super good. This was the best chance we had, and we capitalized on it.”