The Oxford Wildcats hockey team was dealt another two losses this week, including another league loss to the Lapeer East Eagles.
The Wildcats have fallen on hard times as of late, with only one win in their last five games. Their only other bright spot was a 4-4 tie with the Lake Orion Dragons on Dec. 19, the last game before Christmas break.
On Jan. 7, the Wildcats reopened their schedule against Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central, but fell hard in a 12-5 defeat. Freshman forward Mike Lawrence opened the scoring early in the first period for the Wildcats, although the PA announcer credited the goal to captain Paul Weis, who ironically was on the bench at the time.
After Lawrence’s goal, the Lakers stormed back to take a commanding 4-1 lead ending the first. Oxford then tied the game in the middle stages of the second period, but could not hold on in the third and fell to their fifth loss of the season. Oxford’s Mike Lawrence scored two goals and added an assist for the Wildcats.
On Jan. 10, Oxford suffered yet another agonizing league loss, as they fell to the Lapeer East Eagles by a score of 3-1.
The two teams seem evenly matched in the first period as East scored an early goal and Oxford’s Weis tied the score at one on a weak shot from the point with five minutes left. For the rest of the game, however, the Wildcats had a hard time getting to rebounds in front of the East netminder, and the Eagles scored two more before the final horn sounded.
Oxford’s goaltender Mike Stechschulte made 24 saves in a losing effort as the Wildcats were again outshot by their opponents, this time 27-20. The loss dropped the Cats’ record to 0-5 in the league.
They hope to pick up their first FML victory this week when they face off against the Lapeer West Panthers for the two teams’ second meeting of the season on Jan. 14. The game will be at the Lapeer Polar Palace on Davison Rd. in Lapeer. Puck drop will be at 7:15.
Mike Stechschulte is a junior at Oxford High School who plans to major in the field of journalism.