By Mike Stechschulte
Assignment Writer

In their last regular season game of the year, the Oxford Wildcats once again defeated the Lake Orion Dragons, this time by a score of 6-3. The Wildcats finished the season with a 14-8-1 record.
Before Saturday’s hockey game, six of Oxford’s seniors were honored during a pre-game ceremony. Forwards Andrew Lawrence (captain), Brandon Stevens, and Zach Stanard, defensemen Glen Gagnon and Paul Graney, and goaltender Marty Maier were the seniors who played their last regular season game for Oxford on Saturday. All six of those players were chosen to start the game.
All three of Oxford’s goaltenders split the season finale, with Maier starting the first period, Beaupied playing the second and Stechschulte finishing up in the third.
The game began well for the Wildcats, who struck first with a goal by Brandon Stevens to give Oxford the early lead. Lake Orion quickly tied it up, however, with a quick shot that beat Marty Maier over the left shoulder. The Wildcats scored twice more in the period to take a 3-1 lead heading into the second.
During the first intermission, a special “Chuck-a-Puck” contest was held for the Oxford seniors. Andrew Lawrence won with a toss that landed just inches from the faceoff dot.
In the second period, each team scored once to make the score 4-2. Senior Zach Stanard scored his 3rd goal of the year for Oxford.
The third period brought a little more tension as Lake Orion came out and scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway early in the period to make the score 4-3.
The game began to get choppy and the hitting seemed to get heavier as Lake Orion tried desperately to tie it up. Even the smallest player on the team, Mike Szabo, was mixing it up.
The tension eased after Rob Szczepankowski netted his 18th of the year about five minutes later to give Oxford back the two-goal cushion. Oxford scored again later in the period to seal another win against the Dragons to conclude the 2002-03 season.
With the district playoffs beginning this week, the Oxford Wildcat’s star players will need to be at the top of their game if they want to make an impact.
Oxford gets set to play Lapeer East on Wednesday, February 26 in their first game. The last time the Wildcats played Lapeer East, they lost by a devastating 5-4 score.
Nevertheless, the Wildcat’s know that they can beat the Eagles, and are determined to show it. To do that, Oxford will need some help from some of it’s top players, who have worked hard along with the rest of the team to get to the point they are at now.
Oxford’s leading scorer, senior forward Brandon Stevens, is looking great after scoring 25 goals and 27 assists this season, which is almost identical to his team-leading point total of last season. Stevens has been a valuable asset to the Wildcats since they first began the program three years ago. He is regarded by many on the team as a silent leader, and one who leads by example.
Speaking of leadership, team captain Andrew Lawrence has been one who deserves some credit, after leading the Wildcats to a respectable 14-8-1 season. Lawrence, a senior, had 16 goals and 20 assists this year for the Cats. He is the second player to wear the “C” for the Wildcats, after taking over for Mike Higginbotham, who graduated last year after captaining the team for 2 seasons.
Another player who has come through for Oxford has been forward JT Anderson, who finished with a grand total of 23 goals and 16 assists. Anderson, who is a junior, is expected to make a big impact next season as well, and will need to after the graduation of Stevens and Lawrence.
Two other Oxford players who deserve some credit are junior forward Rob Szczepankowski and sophomore forward Sean Degler. The two forwards spent most of the season together on a line that included senior Zach Stanard.
Szczepankowski, along with having 18 goals and 8 assists, also lead the team in penalty minutes with 94. Although he spent some time in the box, Szczepankowski was always a threat to the opposition.
Degler has had a breakthrough season for the Wildcats as well, scoring 17 goals and 12 assists. Degler is only a sophomore, and hopes to contribute even more next season and the year after. Degler will benefit by the absence of Lawrence and Stevens next season, and will probably see more ice time to fill the void left by the two seniors.
Although they didn’t put up the All-Star numbers that the above players did, the Oxford defensive squad, lead by seniors Glen Gagnon and Paul Graney, deserves an honorable mention for their hard work this season.
In the crease for Oxford has been senior goaltender Marty Maier, who will leave the team next year after starting for the Wildcats for three straight seasons. His spot will most likely be filled by one of the three sophomore goalies, Ganey, Beaupied or Stechschulte. Maier finished the season 5-3-1 with a GAA of 2.78 and a Save Percentage of 90.4 against league opponents.
But in the end, Oxford head coach Jeff Wolanin, who took the reins of the team at the beginning of the year, has been a major reason the Wildcats are where they are. Every single player on the team, has learned something from Wolanin or his two assistants, coach Jim and coach Rick. All of their hard work has been greatly appreciated.
The team is looking at a bye in the first round, and will meet Lapeer East in the second round on Wednesday.
The Wildcat’s first playoff game will be tonight (Wednesday) against the Lapeer East Eagles. The game will be held at the Flint IMA at 7:30 pm.
Mike Stechschulte is a sophomore at Oxford High School and a sub-goalie for the varsity hockey team.