By Mike Stechschulte
Assignment Writer

The Oxford Wildcats hockey team met up with two eagles this week; and devoured them both.
Beating the Lapeer East Eagles 7-5 on Wednesday, and the Linden Eagles 5-2 on Saturday, the Cats improved their record to 8-5-1, good enough for second place in the league. Only Linden is ahead of Oxford in the standings, with more wins overall.
After a win against Goodrich the previous weekend, the Wildcats went into Wednesday’s game against Lapeer East cool and confident. After 2 periods, the Wildcats were up by a score of 5-1, and the general feeling was that Oxford had the game already won.
But Lapeer East had apparently decided this wasn’t so.
The Eagles came out in the third with more firepower than they had generated the entire game, getting more shots in the third than they had the previous 2 periods combined. No one was more surprised than Oxford’s backup goalie, Mike Stechschulte, who had taken over for starter Marty Maier in the third period.
Lapeer East outscored Oxford 4-2 in the third period, and the Wildcats barely held on for the 7-5 win.
On Saturday it was a completely different story.
The Wildcats, knowing that a win against the first place Linden Eagles would be crucial if they were to make a run at this year’s title, did not take the contest lightly. Oxford’s top line of Brandon Stevens (Senior), Andrew Lawrence (Senior), and JT Anderson (Junior), provided all of the scoring for the home team.
After two periods, the Wildcats had a commanding 3-0 stranglehold on the Eagles, thanks to goals by Lawrence (2) and Stevens. In the third period, Linden scored two quick goals to cut Oxford’s lead to 3-2.
Oxford then held off an onslaught by Linden, and JT Anderson scored two goals late in the period including an empty-netter to seal the 5-2 win for the Wildcats.
The Wildcat’s next game is back at the Polar Palace on Wednesday, January 29, against Stoney Creek.
Mike Stechschulte is a sophomore at Oxford High School and backup goalie for the Wildcat’s hockey team.