Falcons snap Pioneers’ 37-game win streak

The Portage Lake Pioneers have been a powerhouse in the Great Lakes Hockey League for the last handful of years, including holding a 37-game winning streak going into this past weekend’s tilt with the Eagle River Falcons last Friday. That streak was snapped as the Falcons defended home ice with a 4-2 victory. 

Portage Lake would get its revenge a night later on their home sheet of ice and cruised to an 8-1 victory. 

These two teams met two weekends ago during Pond Hockey, and the Pioneers won a thrilling 3-2 game. 

Portage Lake took a 1-0 lead over the Falcons in a pretty even first period between the two teams. That goal came with just under three minutes to go in the opening frame, as the Pioneers held a slight 21-18 shots advantage after one period. The Falcons came out of the intermission with some energy, and Alex Hauswirth lit the lamp for his eighth of the year just three minutes into the middle frame to tie things at 1-1. Charles Adams got his first of two on the night, later in the second period, assisted by Jacob Robinson, to give Eagle River the 2-1 advantage after two. 

The Falcons flipped the script and outshot the Pioneers 19-2 in period two. Portage Lake tied things three minutes into the third, and the teams skated to a 2-2 tie until the final minutes of regulation. It was Byran Kronberger who tallied the eventual game-winner, assisted by Zach Kennedy, with 1:26 left in the game. Adams sealed the game with an empty-netter with 42 seconds left. 

Eagle River (9-3) is now in fourth place in the GLHL and is scheduled for another Upper Peninsula trip this coming weekend, facing Portage Lake for the third time in two weeks this Friday, Feb. 20, at 6:30 p.m. The Falcons will then travel to Calumet to face the Wolverines on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m.