Marysville makes history with first-ever Larry Manz trophy
Updated: Nov 30, 2022
Braden Turner and Noah LaValley, two Marysville seniors, said their game against Port Huron Northern would be a “must-watch” matchup, and on Saturday, they proved why.
Since the start of the Larry Manz hockey tournament in 2010, Northern has been the only team to hold the trophy. The Huskies shut out Port Huron High on Friday 9-0, and Marysville defeated Anchor Bay 4-1, setting the stage for Saturday’s championship between the two local rivals.
“That was a very physical game [against Anchor Bay], a lot of chippiness,” interim coach Curtis Furtah said. “We took a lot of penalties. I think at one time I had three people in the box when I looked across the ice, so that was obviously a topic of conversation at the end of the game, knowing that we couldn’t be that undisciplined going into Northern. They’re too good to play shorthanded against.”
Furtah said said the Vikings listened, managing just two penalties on Saturday compared to Northern’s eight. The discipline combined with a “collective” team effort led the team to its first-ever Larry Manz trophy.
“I think it gives us a lot of confidence,” Turner said. “We were super happy in the locker room and bonding together after that was a lot of fun too.”
The Vikings pulled away in the third period to win 5-3, propelled by a late-game save from senior Tyler McKenney.
“He made an amazing save in the third about halfway through. A guy had the backdoor and thought it was wide open and Tyler just put his glove out there and snagged it,” Furtah said. “I think that was a big turning point in that game. When you’re up one goal and he makes that save, it got everyone on the team going.”
Maintaining their 4-3 lead with two minutes remaining, Marysville forced Northern to pull its goalie, and that’s when senior Mitchell Donaldson scored his second goal of the night, securing the Viking’s 5-3 victory.
Donaldson led the Vikings with two goals and one assist, Noah LaValley and sophomore Ben LaValley each had one goal and one assist, and sophomore Luke Thick added another goal on a power play. Turner and sophomore Colin Loane each had an assist as well, and McKenney finished the night in the net 38-for-41.
“It was a collective team effort. The underclassmen wanted to do it for the seniors and the seniors wanted to do it for themselves. I think I had almost all the seniors on the ice to end it,” Furtah said.
Turner said that was the first time he or any of his teammates had ever defeated Northern, making the victory even more meaningful.
The Vikings will return to the ice this Thursday against Oxford at McMorran, and will begin league play on the road against Henry Ford II on Saturday.
“I think we’re progressing a lot. Our first line started off kind of slow, we didn’t score in our first two games as a whole line, but in the third game we kind of got going,” Turner said. “Even the younger kids are making a huge impact this year.”
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