Cheboygan Chiefs hockey loses lead late, suffers OT defeat to Cadillac on senior night

CHEBOYGAN – The Cheboygan Chiefs hockey team was so close to celebrating senior night with a memorable victory.

Unfortunately for the Chiefs, the Cadillac Vikings spoiled all the fun.

Trailing by a goal after two periods, the Vikings rallied with a game-tying goal in the third then put away the Chiefs with a 2-1 overtime triumph at Ralph G. Cantile Arena on Friday night. The Cadillac win was payback after the Chiefs captured a 4-3 road victory over the Vikings earlier this season.

Here’s some takeaways from Friday’s thrilling clash:

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Tough way to lose

The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead when freshman Daniel Harke scored with just under three minutes left in the second. It was a huge moment for the Chiefs, who earlier killed off multiple penalties – including a five-minute major – to keep the contest scoreless.

However, the Vikings refused to quit and received an equalizer from Byorn Tracy, who scored with 4:40 remaining. Just over a minute into OT, Gabe Outman was the hero for Cadillac, netting the game winner and helping the Vikings earn their fourth-straight win.

“Credit to Cadillac. (Coach Scott Graham) always has his boys ready to play no matter what,” Cheboygan coach Seth Duncan said. “They always play a really physical brand of hockey that you’ve just got to love. Our boys hung in tough; we had our chances, but sometimes it doesn’t go our way. I’ve been saying that a lot this season, but at the end of the day, our boys played hard.

“I was just telling them that I could lose a lot of games playing hard like that.”

A big-time senior performance

While the Chiefs fell short, one of their seniors – goaltender Sawyer Graham – delivered a terrific performance in front of the home crowd. With Cheboygan struggling at different moments in the game, Graham came to the rescue with some huge saves. In the end, Graham stopped 34 of the 36 Cadillac shots he faced on Friday.

“It’s been tough coming back from the injury he had last week, but the kid always comes out ready to play,” Duncan said of Graham. “He’s a really big part of our team and why we’ve been in a lot of these close games. A lot of times he’ll have to make the big save here or there to keep us in it.”

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A special evening

Following the contest, Cheboygan honored its five seniors – Graham, Gavin Rose, Patrick Smith, Jack Lane and Cody Lane – during a ceremony on the ice.

Duncan made sure to praise a group of players he’s enjoyed working with over the years.

“I’m proud of the way our seniors played on their special night. I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Duncan said. “Just a group of kids that work hard, a bunch of good dudes around the locker room. They just made it a really enjoyable time to come to the rink every day. I’m going to miss them a lot. Four years working with them, and when all that time goes by, you just learn to love them. You hate to see them go, but they’ve got to grow up and go onto bigger and better things.”

Falling to Negaunee

In their regular season finale on Saturday, the Chiefs suffered a 5-2 loss to Negunaee at home. Scoring Cheboygan goals were Brody Carter and Gavin Rose.

Cheboygan (5-18-2) begins postseason play when it travels to Cadillac to face Gaylord in a 5 p.m. MHSAA Division 3 regional first-round game on Tuesday.

Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan hockey suffers 2-1 overtime loss to Cadillac on senior night