UP Veterans raise money for charity, celebrate win over Minnesota

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Michigan Upper Peninsula Veterans Hockey Club forward Andrew Herriman celebrates after scoring a goal in the first period of a game against Minnesota Saturday at Dee Stadium in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)
HOUGHTON — The Michigan Upper Peninsula Veterans Hockey Club fell behind early Saturday at Dee Stadium, but scored six straight goals to earn a 6-1 win over the Minnesota Warriors in the “T2T at the Dee” game.

Playing in a game for charity is something near and dear to the MUPVHC players.

“It’s a great honor to play with other guys that have served in different walks of the military,” said MUPVHC goaltender Adam Kerry, who was able to joke about his position after the game. “The fact that I get to play goalie in it, too. We’re special already, but to be a goalie in the military, it’s like extra special. But, it does mean a lot to come together, especially to play a game like this for charity, for a veterans organization.”

The game raised money for the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, which is “a trustworthy and impactful organization dedicated to helping veterans and their families,” according to the MUPVHC. Proceeds from the game when to helping provide critical assistant to veterans in need.

“I feel very honored just to be able to skate with everybody,” said MUPVHC forward Mike Seratti. “Everybody has different experiences, wartime or not. We get to come together, share a common goal. The camaraderie you get to share together, you get to work towards a common goal again, have a good time, and just play hockey.”

Kerry and Seratti both featured prominently in the game itself. Kerry surrendered one goal just 2:47 into the contest, but then shut the door after that. Seratti scored three times over the course of the game.

Seratti’s first goal gave the MUPVHC the lead at the 12:10 mark of the first period and put them ahead for good. He found the puck in the right circle and wired a wrist shot that beat Warriors starting goaltender Jeremy Koelln.

His second goal came just 2:10 into the third period. Defenseman Todd Bastian and forward Andrew Herriman both assisted on the tally.

“The second one, I won the draw,” he said. “I was saying I ain’t losing any draws today, so I won the draw, and then shot it. I got a rebound and just poked it in.”

Seratti’s hat trick goal came about 30 seconds after defenseman Trevor Ploe struck at 12:05. He found himself time and space, skated in alone, and buried a shot through goaltender Patrick Courteaux’s legs.

“On the last one, I got a couple nice bounces, and got to skate it on a breakaway,” Seratti said. “The five zero opened up. That’s my sweet spot. I didn’t have to think about it after that.”

Kerry found a way to lock himself in after giving up the early goal in the first period.

“I was actually pretty calm the whole game,” he said. “Usually I worry, but the shot actually fooled me. It was like a change up, kind of caught me off guard. I was expecting something hard and it wasn’t.

“So, after making the next couple of saves, I just got into the game. My team was great in front of me. They cleared rebounds. They helped me see the puck. I give credit to my defense and forwards.”

Co-captain Jon French mentioned there was no panic on the bench after Minnesota scored, because the goal was scored so early.

“When they got that first goal, nobody really panicked or anything like that,” he said. “There’s a lot of time left in a game. Hey, it’s one shot. One shot ties it up. Then, after that, it was win every puck race, every foot race to the puck. Win your shift, then win the period.

“Once we got out with that one-goal lead, and we had something to set up, it was ‘Let’s go win the next period. Let’s go win the third period.’ We just did it one period of time, one shift at a time, one foot race at a time.”

Herriman got the MUPVHC on the board at 7:09 of the first period when he knocked a rebound off a shot from Seratti past Koelln.

In the second period, Kerry made a number of saves until the team in front of him got themselves going. Once they did, they extended their lead. Co-captain Lee DeForge got an initial shot off from the slot and knocked home his own rebound at 7:35.

Minnesota kept putting pressure on Kerry, but he stood his ground, and the MUPVHC found themselves up 3-1 going into the final frame.

After Seratti scored early in the third, the MUPVHC kept the pressure on until a 3-on-2 rush led to Ploe’s goal. On the play, forward T.J. Maleport moved the puck to his left across the slot to forward Chris Luoma. Luoma then fed the puck back across the slot to Ploe, who had joined the rush up the ice. Ploe beat Courteaux with a one-timer.

After Seratti scored the MUPVHC’s sixth goal, they were able to settle into a more comfortable period for the last five minutes. Kerry came up big with a final save with just 4.5 seconds left to seal the win.

Despite the growing rivalry between the two teams, French and his teammates enjoyed getting to know the Warriors players as people off the ice as well during the weekend.

“It’s almost overwhelming in the feelings, because you’re out there playing with guys, one, they’re an excellent hockey team, and two, they’re even better people, better guys,” he said. “It’s like we served together, and they’re just a phenomenal group. All of us hung out the whole entire weekend. We went to practice together. We had pizza together. We went and did a mine tour together. We really got to know each other, and it’s just phenomenal.”

Michigan Upper Peninsula Veterans Hockey Club forward Mike Seratti looks to shoot a puck on goal in the first period of a game against Minnesota Saturday at Dee Stadium in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)