By Mike Stechschulte
Assignment Writer

The Oxford hockey team fell hard this weekend to the Davison Cardinals in a 10-0 defeat that knocked them out of the district playoffs. The Cardinals are the same team that knocked the Wildcats out of the playoffs last year.
Oxford was clearly overmatched by Davison from the opening faceoff until the game ended. Davison outshot the Wildcats by a blistering 51-5 count.
Oxford starting goaltender Marty Maier was pulled by coach Jeff Wolanin in the middle of the second period in favor of backup Mark Ganey, but was forced to return between the pipes after Ganey received a 10 minute misconduct.
Maier had allowed 5 goals on 37 shots when he was pulled, and backup Ganey gave up 2 goals on 12 shots. To their credit, they faced a total of 51 shots in one game.
The loss ended the Wildcats 2002-03 season, and they hope to regroup for another run next year. The Cats will loose six seniors next year including Stanard, Maier, Gagnon, Stevens, Graney, and Lawrence. The team hopes to see more contributions from Juniors Rob Szczepankowski and JT Anderson next season. Team captain Andrew Lawrence will likely be replaced by his younger brother Mike Lawrence, who will be a freshman next season.
However, not all was lost this past week.
On Wednesday, the Wildcats picked up their first ever playoff victory with a 7-6 overtime decision against the Lapeer East Eagles.
Oxford forward JT Anderson got credit for the overtime winner about two minutes into the extra period. The win gave Oxford a spot in the regional finals against Davison, who had beaten Hartland 4-1 earlier in the day.
The Wildcats season ending ‘Oxford Oldies’ game, which features the Oxford school district’s staff and coaches against the Varsity team, will take place later in the month of March.
Mike Stachschulte is a sophomore at Oxford High School and a subgoalie for the Wildcats.