ALPENA, MI - Gaylord scored two-second period goals and advanced to the Regional Final with a 2-0 victory over Alpena at Northern Lights Arena on Saturday night.  After a scoreless opening period, the Blue Devils began to control the flow of the game forcing  Alpena to use their timeout.  A few minutes after the timeout Gaylord got on the board when Sam Gorno fired a wrist shot that got through traffic and past Collin Lightfoot for the 1-0 lead.  The Wildcats had an opportunity to tie the game thanks to multiple penalties assessed to the Blue Devils.  Gaylord netminder Austin Sitz stood tall and made several saves to keep the lead at 1-0. 

Gaylord capitalized on the momentum from the penalty kill when Gabe Kleinsorge broke in alone on and made a beautiful move to slide the puck past the outstretched glove of Lightfoot to give the Blue Devils the 2-0 lead.  Gaylord then relied on their tough trap defense to keep Alpena from mounting any type of comeback in the final period.

Gaylord advances to face Sault Ste. Marie in the Regional Final on March 4.  Alpena ends their season at 11-14-2.

ALPENA, MI - Alpena scored two third period goals and advanced to the Regional Semi-Finals with a 4-1 victory over Cheboygan on Wednesday night at Northern Lights Arena.  After killing off two early penalties, the Wildcats were able to fire home a rebound off the stick of Tanner Orban.  Cheboygan's Scott Pavwoski stopped both a point shot by Evan Kraenzlein and the rebound by Anden Marceau but could not stop Orban's third shot.

Cheboygan slowly began to seize the momentum and used their speed to generate several odd-man rushes.  After Collin Lightfoot made a big stop on a breakaway the Chiefs got the puck to the point for another shot attempt.  Ethan Lindle fired the puck towards the net that was deflected by an Alpena stick and into the net to tie the game at 1-1.  Alpena seized control of the game later in the period when Orban scored his second of the night with 3:41 left.  Orban gained control of a loose puck deep in the Cheboygan zone, outskated the defenders, and beat Pavwoski on a beautiful juke to give Alpena the 2-1 lead.

The Wildcats added to their lead early in the third thanks to a shorthanded goal when Anden Marceau buried a rebound from a point shot by Blaise Keller just three minutes into the period.  A minute later, Mitch Agius turned and fired a shot from the top of the face-off circle that found its way through the crowd and into the upper part of the net to extend the Wildcat lead to 4-1.  

Alpena advances to the Regional Semi-Final against Gaylord on Saturday night at 7pm at Northern Lights Arena.  Tawas and Sault Ste Marie will face-off in the other semi-final at 4pm.

ALPENA, MI - Big North Conference Champion Traverse City Central proved too much for the shorthanded Wildcats in their 6-2 victory on Friday night in the regular-season finale at Northern Lights Arena.  The Trojans got to work quickly scoring two goals in the opening 1:29 when Christopher Usiondek and Nick Sommerfeld both found the back of the net.  After a Wildcat timeout, Anden Marceau picked the puck in the Alpena zone, weaved his way past the Trojan defenders, and slide the puck past Grant Neuhardt to cut the lead to 2-1.

The Trojans pulled away in the second period when Charlie Douglass scored a pair of goals to give Traverse City Central the 4-1 lead after two.  Eli Gosselin gave the Wildcats a glimpse of hope when he scored his first goal of the season early in the third period.  The Trojans would snuff out that hope with a pair of goals by Douglass and Carson Peters.

Alpena (10-13-2) will open up postseason play at Northern Lights Arena on February 26 when they take on Cheboygan at 7pm.

ALPENA, MI - The Wildcats won their sixth straight Big North Conference game with a 7-4 victory over Petoskey on Saturday afternoon at Northern Lights Arena.  The Wildcats wasted no time getting on the board when Tanner Orban scored 21 seconds into the game to give Alpena the early lead.  The lead was extended to 2-0 when Anden Marceau scored his 15th of the season after Brody Thomson kept the puck in the Northmen zone and Marceau fired a quick turn around shot that beat Will Parker.  Petoskey's Dylan Robinson cut into the Wildcat lead with 5:09 left in the period.  Petoskey kept the pressure on the Wildcats and with 33-seconds to play in the period Derek Hebner's shot through traffic found its way into the back of the net to tie the game at two.

Tanner Orban would again go to work quickly when he fired a puck at Parker that hit a Petoskey stick and went high into the net just 36 seconds into the period to give Alpena the 3-2 lead.  Hunter Canute, who entered the weekend with no goals on the season, found himself all alone on the right-wing side and fired a beautiful shot into the top corner of the net for his second goal in the last two games.  Ethan Decker got the Northmen back in the game with a little over five minutes left in the period after multiple shots were fired at Collin Lightfoot who could not make the final save as the lead was cut to 4-3.  Orban completed the hat trick a few minutes later to extend the Wildcat lead to 5-3 after two periods.

Ben Nowak would give Alpena a three-goal lead a little over four minutes into the third period when his rebound shot went through the five-hole of Parker.  Jordan Troxel again cut the lead to two goals for Petoskey about a minute after Nowak's goal, but that is as close as the Northmen could get.  Marceau put the game away with five and a half minutes to play when he tipped home a shot from Orban to give Alpena the 7-4 lead.  Lightfoot stopped 47 of the 51 shots fired at him by Petoskey.

Alpena (9-11-2, 6-2-0 BNC) host TC West on Friday night at 6pm in a battle for 2nd place in the conference.  Alpena sits at 12 points in the BNC, just two points ahead of the Titans (5-3-0) and four points behind 1st place TC Central (8-0-0).  

ALPENA, MI - Anden Marceau scored just 41 seconds into the second period as Alpena edged past Cadillac, 2-1, on Friday night at Northern Lights Arena.  Friday night was Senior Night as the Wildcats honored seven Seniors in a pre-game ceremony. 

Cadillac took the air out of the arena early when Ian Lilly found the back of the net on the Power Play four minutes into the game.  Senior Hunter Canute then got the momentum back for the Wildcats when he scored his first goal of the season when he tipped home a loose puck with 5:11 to play in the first.  

The Wildcats took the lead quickly in the 2nd period when Marceau scored his 14th goal of the season off a 2-on-1 pass from Tanner Orban.  The game remained 2-1 into the final minute of the game when Cadillac pulled Nathan Moore for the extra attacker and a face-off deep in the Wildcat zone.  After the puck was tied up along the wall the puck squirted loose in front of the Wildcat zone and Cadillac's Carson Carlington found himself all alone.  Carlington's shot was fired wide of Collin Lightfoot as Alpena was able to clear the zone and secure the win.  Lightfoot finished with 17 saves.

Alpena has now won five straight Big North Conference games and seven of their last nine games.  Alpena (8-11-2, 5-2-0 BNC) host Petoskey on Saturday.

CADILLAC, MI - Anden Marceau continued his hot streak with two goals in Alpena's 5-0 Big North Conference victory over Cadillac on Saturday at The Wex.  Marceau, who scored four times in Friday's win over Petoskey, found the net twice on Saturday.  Mitch Agius scored 1:14 into the game to give Alpena the 1-0 and Marceau added a shorthanded tally to give the Wildcats the 2-0 lead after one.  Marceau, Jaden Marchlowski, and Tanner Orban added goals in the second period.  Collin Lightfoot made 21 saves in the game for the shutout. 

Alpena (7-10-2, 4-2-0 BNC) has won four straight and six of their last seven games.  The Wildcats are at Chegoygan on February 1.

PETOSKEY, MI - Anden Marceau scored four games, including an empty netter late, as Alpena won their third straight game 5-3 over Petoskey on Friday night.  Brody Thompson opened the scoring for Alpena after a low point shot by Mitch Agius rebounded to Thompson who tucked it home.  Alpena would increase their lead to 2-0 after a Tanner Orban check forced a turnover deep in the Petoskey zone and Marceau found capitalized on the opportunity for his first of the night.

The Wildcats would extend the lead to 3-0 early in the second period on Marceau's second of the night, and Alpena seemed to be in control.  Petoskey would finish the second period by scoring two goals in the final six minutes, including one with three seconds left in the period.  

Marceau completed the hat trick in the first minute of the third when wet ice caused a Petoskey defender to overskated the puck leaving Marceau alone with the Northmen goaltender.  Petoskey would again get to within a goal with 11:17 remaining in the contest.  Collin Lightfoot, who made 31 saves on the night, was able to keep the Northmen off the board the rest of the way.  Marceau's fourth goal of the night was a game-ending empty netter with less than 30-seconds to play.

Alpena (6-10-2, 3-2-0 BNC) has won three straight and five of their last six games.  The Wildcats are at Cadillac at noon on Saturday.

GAYLORD, MI - For the second time in three days the Wildcats scored three goals in the final period to pull away from Gaylord and completed the sweep Friday night with a 4-2 victory.  The Wildcats opened the scoring late in the opening period when Cam Young found the back of the net with assists going to Matt Thompson and Hunter Canute.  Gaylord tied the game in the second period when Connor Bradfield knocked home a rebound goal shorthanded.  Matt Thompson gave Alpena the lead back when he fired a low shot from the point that found its way in the net to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead after two.

The third period would be a wild one as Gaylord would tie the game with 5:41 left when Ian Bush beat Jimmy Bolanowski.  The tie lasted a little more than a minute when Matt Thompson set Tanner Orban up for a one-time blast that beat Brewer Koleszar to give Alpena the 3-2 lead.  Orban would put the game away late when he buried the puck into the empty net to seal the 4-2 win.  Bolanowski finished the night with 15 saves.

Alpena (5-10-2, 2-2-0 BNC) is at Petoskey next Friday and Cadillac next Saturday.  Alpena is 4-1-0 in their last five games and is 1-0-1 versus teams ranked in Division 3.

ALPENA, MI - The Wildcats used three third period goals to earn a key 4-1 Big North Conference victory over Gaylord on Wednesday night at Northern Lights Arena.  After a scoreless opening period that saw Alpena kill off two Blue Devil Power Plays, it was one of the youngsters that got the Wildcats on the board.  Jaden Marchlowski was able to beat Austin Sitz to give Alpena a much needed 1-0 lead.  Collin Lightfoot, who had to make several key saves in the opening period, kept the lead for the Wildcats throughout the period.  Gaylord had a golden opportunity to tie the game late in the period when Sam Gorno found himself all alone on Lightfoot but ringed his shot off the crossbar.

The Wildcats jumped on Gaylord quickly in the third when Anden Marceau forced a Blue Devil turnover deep in their zone and fired a perfect shot over Stitz's glove just 11 seconds into the period.  Gaylord responded just as quick when Vaughn Voss converted a Gaylord Power Play just over a minute after the Marceau goal.  Tanner Orban would make sure the Blue Devils would get no closer when he scored the first of his two goals with 6:47 remaining on the power play.  Orban would score again four minutes later with a perfect shot over the left shoulder of Stitz to increase the lead to 4-1.  Lightfoot would get the win in net making 20 saves.

Alpena (4-10-2, 1-2-0 BNC) travel to Gaylord on Friday night for the back end of the week home-and-home series.

TRAVERSE CITY, MI - Kingsford scored the game-winning goal with 5:30 left in the overtime as the Flivvers defeated Alpena, 3-2, in day two of the Rick Deneweth North/South Showcase in Traverse City.  Cam Young tied the game for the Wildcats about midway through the 2nd period, with an assist to Blaise Keller.

The Flivvers reclaimed the lead late in the 2nd Period and took a 2-1 lead into the final period.  The Wildcats tied the game on a power-play goal by Evan Kraenzlein with just over five minutes left in the game.  Hunter Fortner ended the game for the Flivvers when he was able to poke home a rebound for the winner.

Alpena (3-10-2) return to conference play on Wednesday when they host Gaylord at Northern Lights Arena.

TRAVERSE CITY, MI - Three third period goals broke open a tied hockey game as Alpena defeated Mona Shores, 5-3, in the Rick Deneweth North/South Showcase at Centere Ice.  After both teams skated to a scoreless opening period, the Wildcats got on the board early when Anden Marceau intercepted a pass in the neutral zone.  Marceau then fired the puck into the Sailor zone which somehow found its way into the back of the net for a 1-0 Alpena lead.  Cayden Mollema tied the game a few minutes later when he broke in alone on Jimmy Bolanowski.  Jaden Marchlowski gave Alpena the lead again, this time on the power play with assists from Blaise Keller and Evan Kraenzlein.  The Sailors again responded to tie the game after a scramble in front of the net resulted in a rebound goal late in the period.

Alpena would take control of the game in the third period thanks to three goals.  Tanner Orban's hard skating all night was finally rewarded when he scored early in the 3rd Period to Alpena the lead for good.  Brett Ciupka added insurance to the Wildcat lead when he found the back of the net with 13:05 remaining in the game.  Mona Shores would climb back into the game when Trent Benedict popped home a rebound with 1:47 remaining in the game.  Marceau would put the game on ice when he fired a loose puck from the Wildcat zone into the open net to seal the 5-3 victory.  Jimmy Bolanowski finished the night with 29 saves.

Alpena (3-9-2) take on Kinsford Friday 4pm on day two of the Rick Deneweth North/South Showcase.

SAULT STE, MARIE, MI - The Wildcats got two third period goals and spectacular goaltending as Alpena upset #9 Midland Dow, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon at Big Bear Arena.  After the two teams skated to a scoreless first two periods, the Wildcats were the first to get on the board.  With 4:36 left in the period, Brett Ciupka was able to poke home a loose puck to give Alpena the 1-0 lead.  The Wildcats would get strong goaltending from Jimmy Bolanowski, and a few moments from Colin Lightfoot, to make sure the lead held up.  Tanner Orban would bury an empty-net goal with 0:20 remaining the seal the upset victory.  

Alpena (2-9-2) will head to Traverse City for the TC Reps Showcase next weekend.  

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI - Plymouth got a hat trick from Brendan Allen as they skated past Alpena, 7-1, in the annual Soo Lions Tournament at Big Bear Arena on Friday night.  Ian Smith and Allen each found the back of the net in the opening period as the quick skating Wildcats got an early jump on Alpena.  Allen and Smith would each find the back of the net in the second, and were joined by Brayden Goebel and Anthony Cassar.  Alpena's lone goal came when Jaden Marchlowski took a beautiful pass from Cam Young and beat Joel Drucker to cut the lead to 6-1.  Allen would complete the hat trick in the 3rd Period for the deciding 7-1 margin.

ALPENA, MI - Escanaba got a Shorthanded goal early in the 3rd Period and hung on to defeat Alpena, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon.  The first two periods would be a back and forth affair as each team would match a goal scored by their opponent.  Kyle Krutina would open the scoring when he beat Jimmy Bolanowski on a rebound chance with 11:25 to play.  Blaise Keller would tie the game on an outstanding individual effort on the penalty kill.  After Keller blocked a clearing chance by the Eskymos he skated in alone on Trevor Denome to tie the score. 

Matt Thompson would give Alpena the lead in the second period on the power play, with assists to Keller and Mitch Agius.  The lead lasted for 43 seconds when Ethan Silverstone tied the game for the Eskymos.  Later in the period, Sawyer LaMarch put the Eskymos back in front with a power-play rebound goal with 4:46 left.  Alpena would again answer when Ben Nowak found the back of the net with assists from Agius and Eli Gooselin.

The Wildcats would get a power-play opportunity early in the final period but it was Escanaba that would capitalize on the opportunity.  Krutina buried a rebound off of a Silverstone shot past Bolanowski to give the Eskymos the 4-3 lead just 1:04 into the period.  This time, the Wildcats could not answer as Denome made the lead stand.  Bolanowski finished the night with 31 saves.

Alpena (1-8-2) head to the Soo for the Lions Tournament on January 3 and January 4.

ALPENA, MI - Howell broke open a 1-1 tie with six goals in the 3rd Period in the Highlanders's 7-1 victory over Alpena on Friday night.  Alpena took the early lead when Brett Ciupka buried a rebound from a Cam Young shot on the Power Play just 3:49 into the game.  Howell tied the game midway through the 2nd Period on a Dominic Rossi wrister. 

The third period belonged to Howell after Stefan Frantti gave them the 2-1 lead 3:38 into the final stanza.  Steven Miller and Ryan Moran scored 16-seconds apart to bust open the game with 6:30 remaining.  The Wildcats then called a timeout and pulled netminder Jimmy Bolanowski.  Andrew Mitter wasted no time when he found the empty net just six seconds after the timeout to increase the lead to 5-1.  Jack Johnson and Miller would add Power Play goals just 19 seconds apart late in the game to finish off the Wildcats.

TRAVERSE CITY, MI - The Alpena Wildcats dropped a pair of Big North Conference matchups in Traverse City at Howe Arena.  On Friday, the TC Central Trojans jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the 1st period in their 7-1 victory over Alpena.  Brody Thompson scored the lone goal, his first career Varsity tally.

On Saturday, the Wildcats fought the Titans of TC West to a 1-1 1st period after Matt Thompson netted the tying goal.  The Titans then took over the game en route to a 4-1 victory.

Alpena (1-6-2, 0-2-0 BNC) host Escanaba, Howell, and Orchard Lake St.Mary's in their annual Holiday Showcase on December 27 and December 28.

GAYLORD, MI - After falling behind 2-0 early in the opening period, the Wildcats settled down to force a 2-2 tie #5 Grand Rapids Catholic Central on Saturday morning in Gaylord.  Jacob Onstott scored twice in the opening period as Alpena struggled to keep up with the talented Cougars.  The Wildcats began to flip the ice in the 2nd period behind sharp passing and strong stick play.  A five-minute major gave the Cougars an opportunity to put away the Wildcats but strong net play by Jimmy Bolanowski helped Alpena kill off the penalty and regain momentum entering the final period.

Anden Marceau finally got the Wildcats on the board in the 3rd period with an assist from Blaise Keller.  Keller scored his second goal of the weekend with five minutes remaining to tie the game.  Bolanowski, who made 27 saves in the game, had a beautiful save late in the game to preserve the tie.

Alpena (1-4-2) open up BNC play on Friday at TC Central (6pm) and on Saturday at TC West (1pm).

GAYLORD, MI - The Wildcats got a 48-save performance from Colin Lightfoot to force a 2-2 tie with Flint Powers at the D-3 Challenge in Gaylord on Friday.  Tim Washburn would give the Chargers to lead six minutes into the game off of an assist from Brenden Tarpening.  Tanner Orban would tie the game when a blocked Wildcat shot ended up on Orban's stick and he buried it to get Alpena on the board.

In the second period, the play would be dominated by Flint Powers as the Chargers peppered Lightfoot with 22 shots.  The only shot to get past him was a power-play goal by Eddie Barbieri.  After trailing 2-1 going into the final period, the Wildcats would get a goal from Blaise Keller on the power-play to force the 2-2 tie.

ALPENA, MI - The Bay Area Reps tallied two goals in a matter of three minutes in the third period to pull away from the Wildcats in their 4-1 victory on Friday night at Northern Lights Arena.  The Wildcats got on the board first when Charlie Halleck won an offensive zone face-off and Evan Kraenzlein fired the puck past Garrett Hathaway on the Power Play.  The goal sparked hundreds of stuffed animals to be tossed onto the ice as part of the annual Teddy Bear Toss.

After the Wildcats carried a 1-0 lead into the 2nd Period, the Reps would begin to take control of the game.  Alpena fought hard to kill-off a 5-on-3 power play for the Reps, but could not complete the kill as Andrew Bankey was able to beat Jimmy Bolanowski with 27-seconds left on the 5-on-4 advantage.  The two teams would play evenly over the last 6:18 of the 2nd period to enter intermission tied at one.

The Reps would take the lead less than a minute into the final period when Kaleb Miller broke in, shorthanded, on Bolanowski and found the back of the net.  A few minutes later, Cam Newman poked home a loose puck in front of the net for the Power Play tally to extend the lead to 3-1.  Alpena would pull Bolanowski late to put pressure on the Reps and Hathaway.  Garrison Waugh would ice the game when he sent the puck the length of the ice and into the open net with 22 seconds remaining in the game.

Alpena (1-4-0) head to Gaylord next weekend for the Division 3 Showcase at the Otsego County Sportsplex.  The Wildcats face Flint Powers at 12pm on Friday and Grand Rapids Catholic Central on Saturday at 10am.

ALPENA, MI - Three different Wildcats scored a pair of goals in Alpena's 6-0 win over the Sault Area Blue Devils in the Consolation game of the Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday.  Ian Lightfoot got the Wildcats on the board less than seven minutes into the game as he beat Blue Devil Goaltender Triston Forgrave on the short side for his first goal of the year.  Lightfoot added a second tally just 24 seconds later as he was able to tuck home a rebound from a Jack Hamp shot to give Alpena the quick 2-0 lead.  With a little over two minutes to play in the 1st period, Easton Schultz won an offensive zone face-off to the right of Forgrave that allowed Tanner Orban to find the back of the net for a 3-0 lead after 1.

Blaise Keller added to the lead in the second period when he took a pass from Aden Marceau and beat Forgrave just 16 seconds after the mid-way ice resurfacing.  Keller added a second goal in the period, this time on the Power Play when he knocked home a rebound for a 5-0 lead.  Orban finished the scoring in the third when he wrapped the puck around and slid it past Forgrave.

Collin Lightfoot made 14 saves for the shutout.

Alpena (1-3-0) host TC Reps at 6pm on December 6.

ALPENA, MI - Negaunee's Ryan Kerkala stopped 41 of the Wildcats' 42 shots in a 3-1 Miners victory on Friday night at Northern Lights Arena.  The Miners took advantage of some sloppy play by the Wildcats early and jumped out to a 2-0 lead.  

Riley Luokkala opened the scoring 4:30 into the game when his point shot found its way past Jimmy Bolanowski.  The Miners extended their lead on Jack Mattias's first goal of the game with seven minutes remaining in the period when Mattias won a face-off deep in the Alpena zone and was able to beat Bolanowski. 

Alpena finally found the back of the net with 4:21 left in the 2nd Period when Anden Marceau skated past a pair of Miner defenders and finally beat Kerkala for his second goal of the season.  The rest of the night belonged to Ryan Kerkala who fought off every Wildcat attempt to tie the game, including a Blaise Keller break-a-away late in the game.  Mattias netted his second goal of the game when he cleared the puck the length of the ice and into the empty Wildcat net with 35 seconds left.

Alpena (0-3-0) will play Sault Ste Marie in the consolation game of the Thanksgiving Tournament at 12pm on Saturday.

ALPENA, MI - Macomb Dakota's quick offense, and special teams play proved to be too much for Alpena in an 8-0 loss on Saturday afternoon at Northern Lights Arena.  Joey Gavlinski netted a natural hat trick and five other Cougars registered goals in the contest.  Nate Puma scored with 9:06 remaining in the 3rd Period to end the game due to a mercy rule.  Alpena's Colin Lightfoot had 22 saves in the loss.

Alpena (0-2-0) host Negaunee at 5pm on November 29 in their annual Thanksgiving Tournament.  Gabriel Richard and Sault Ste. Marie are in the other Friday Semi-Final.

ALPENA, MI - University Liggett got a goal with 0:15.9 left to knock-off the Wildcats on opening night at Northern Lights Arena on Friday night.  After a scoreless opening period, the Wildcats opened the scoring when Aden Marceau broke in on goal Shorthanded and put in his own rebound past Grant Lindsey for his first career goal.  The Knights tied the game a few minutes later when Alec Leonard blasted a one-timer past Jimmy Bolanowski for the power-play goal. 

The Knights had a golden opportunity late in the game when Alpena's Mitch Agius was assessed a major penalty, giving Liggett a five-minute power play.  The Wildcats, led by Bolanowski's strong play, were able to kill off the major penalty with 2:50 to play.  As the clock began to run down the Wildcats turned the puck over along the far half boards and Will Nicholson found a wide-open Rocco Scarfone in the right faceoff circle who beat Bolanowski with 0:15.9 left.

Bolanowski finished the night with 21 saves in net for the Wildcats.  Alpena (0-1-0) wrap-up the weekend when they take on Macomb Dakota at 1:30 pm on Saturday.