Saginaw squirt team captures ‘Battle at the Bridge’ title
Note: The following article and photos are reader submissions from a parent, coach, or player. Have your team highlighted on our website and in MiHockeyMag by e-mailing editor Michael Caples at mcaples@mihockeynow.com.
On the first weekend of December, the Saginaw Township Education Association Squirt hockey team took a long road trip to St. Ignace to participate in the 12-team ‘Battle at the Bridge’ – a part of the Bridge Brawl Tournament Series. After coming out flat on Friday in a 5-1 loss to the Grand Rapids Panthers – a team that has not lost in their house division this year – the boys turned things around on Saturday, defeating the Traverse City Greyhounds 6-2 and the Mt. Pleasant Patriots 5-1 to qualify for the semifinals on Sunday, with a return match-up versus the Grand Rapids club. Sunday was a different story, as Saginaw dominated the semifinal with a 5-0 victory to secure a spot in the championship game against perennial powerhouse and defending MAHA state runner-up St. Ignace, who had defeated Marquette 5-4 in overtime in the first semifinal. In a hard-fought, evenly-matched title game, Saginaw pulled out a 1-0 victory to win the tournament, complete with Saginaw turning away a penalty shot awarded to St. Ignace. The Saginaw boys skated hard all weekend, knowing what they had to do and how many they had to win by on Saturday to even make the semifinals. The coaching staff and parents couldn’t be more proud of their hard effort in bringing the title home.
Photo caption (left to right):
Front Row (left to right)
#15 David Smith G
Middle Row
#2 Michael Merrill LW
#11 Mark Merrill D
#5 Andrew Woodcock LW
#7 Owen Dreyer D
#4 Mason Cole C
#9 Brandon Brandt D
Third Row
#8 Logan VanNest C
#3 Matthew Warby RW
#6 Kyle Brown D
#18 Andrew Romanowski RW
Back Row
Asst. Coach Brian Brandt and Head Coach Brian Merrill
Missing from photo
#10 Camren Howell D
#12 Lincoln Emeott RW
Asst. Coach Chris Erskine and Asst. Coach Stephan Woodcock