The Reeths-Puffer hockey team’s four-game winning streak came to a halt on Saturday with a tough 3-1 loss to state-ranked Midland at the Stan Konrad Memorial Showcase at Muskegon’s Lakeshore Ice Centre.
Midland led 1-0 after the first period. R-P’s Jaxon Stone evened things up with a power play goal midway through the second period, with assists from Tyler Tindall and Connor Stawski. About five minutes later Midland scored on a shot that bounced off a Rocket defender and into the net.
The Rockets thought they had tied the game late in the second period, but an apparent goal by Isaiah Winters was negated by a penalty.
R-P's Connor Stawski, who had an assist on the Rockets' lone goal.
Reeths-Puffer had a difficult time getting the equalizer in the third period, due to a Midland 5-on-3 power play that had to be killed off, and the fact that the Chemics had a 22-6 advantage in shots on goal in the period. R-P also lost one of its top scorers down the stretch when he was handed a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct.
Midland scored the final goal with a little over a minute left in the contest.
R-P goalie Tanner Bonjernoor had a great game, stopping 51 of 53 Midland shots.
R-P goalie Tanner Bonjernoor, who stopped 51 of 55 shots.
“They are a state-ranked team, so we knew it would be a good test and we hung right with them and battled them hard for almost two full periods,” said R-P coach Ryan Martin, whose team is now 10-5 on the season. “When we lost one of our leading scorers and had a goal taken off the board all at the same time, we were pretty deflated.
“To the boys' credit, they were able to re-engage mentally and kill off a big 5-on-3 and the entire major penalty. That gave us some momentum, but ultimately we spent a lot of energy killing those penalties off. Our guys should be very proud of the way we battled and played today. Midland is a strong team and with a couple more bounces that outcome could have been entirely different."