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Brancheau’s late goal propels Wyandotte past Trenton, 4-2
Wyandotte – Wyandotte’s four game winning streak hung on in the balance on Tuesday and it was a late goal by junior Jason Brancheau that helped seal a 4-2 win over rival Trenton at Yack Arena in Wyandotte.
“We needed to get the puck down in their end,” Brancheau said. “Trenton was playing us pretty tight, and we had to bring the game back.”
The goal that proved to be the game winner came with 2:22 remaining when senior Eric Bell dove on the ice to push the puck into the neutral zone. From there, Brancheau walked the puck to the short side and fired a shot that caromed off the goaltender’s pad for a 3-2 lead.
The Bears (11-2-1) got an insurance goal with nine seconds left when senior Matt Calhoun intercepted the puck at center ice, and rifled it into the empty net.
“For us this win is good for our momentum, but Trenton is our biggest rival, and when you beat Trenton, you beat one of the state’s best teams,” Wyandotte coach Mike Quint said.
“A win like this creates confidence.”
Trenton (7-4-2) needed a strong second period to rebound from an early 1-0 deficit that was created by a Matt Gilbert goal in the first period.
The Trojans received a boost 1:04 into the second on a quick rebound goal from forward Soloman Markus on the short side for a 1-1 tie. After the Trojans killed a 5-on-3 penalty, momentum continued to swing in Trenton’s favor.
Still down a defender, Trenton defenseman Grant McClellan sprang out of the penalty box and intercepted the puck at center ice that immediately created an odd man rush. Markus trailed the play and finished off a one timer for a short-handed goal and a 2-1 lead with 3:22 left in the period.
After the game, Quint said that the Bears have been working on their power play unit and must continue to find solutions when Wyandotte has a man advantage.
“We tried to change a couple of little things on Monday,” he said. “But they didn’t really work for us tonight. We’ll keep tinkering because we’ll need that group to step up later on this year.”
The unit did rebound a few seconds later when senior forward Jake Theisen slammed a rebound from a Brancheau shot to finish the power play and knot the score at 2-2.
Wyandotte will host Woodhaven on Saturday to finish a three-game home stand.
