When the week began, Saturday figured to be a battle for the conference lead. Instead we found the Middleton Cardinals trying to end a two game skid and the Wildcats determined to maintain sole possession of first place in the Big Eight.

The game started with both teams moving the puck up and down the ice. Early in the period, Verona started a 2 on 1 rush towards the Cardinals goalie. Middleton's Jake Bunz was moving backwards on defense and as the Verona players tried to make the pass from the right wing to the left wing Bunz was able to tip the pass away and stop the play.

Once again both teams buckled down on defense. Middleton was able to light the lamp first, when Jake Bunz found the puck and beat Alex Jones with a quick shot to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats' Zac Keryluk took a crosschecking penalty at 12:57 of the first. Verona killed off the penalty and tied the game with a scrum in front of the net as Charlie Parker put the loose puck past Max McConnell with an assist from Zach Jones.

Middleton's Jordan Carey received a two minute minor for elbowing with 9 seconds remaining in the first. The first period ended with Alex Jones having 9 saves for Verona, while Max McConnell had 7 saves for the Cardinals.

The second period started with the Wildcats on the power play. The Wildcats moved the puck behind the net and into the corner to the right of McConnell. Charlie Parker passed the puck to the defensive point man, Zac Keryluk, just inside the blue line. Keryluk rifled a pass to Zach Jones, who one timed the puck in the back door giving the Wildcats a 2-1 lead 38 seconds into the second period.

Middleton picked up four penalties in the period, but was able to keep the score at 2-1 to end the second period. Verona's Alex Jones collected 4 saves in the second for a two period total of 13. Max McConnell had 16 saves for Middleton for a two period total of 23.

The third period found the Wildcats increasing their lead to two, when Jacob Taylor scored with an assist from Zac Keryluk at 6:22 of the third period.

Verona picked up a penalty for checking from behind (in open ice), which resulted in a 2 minute minor and 10 minute misconduct with 3:07 remaining in the game. It was at this time Middleton decided to pull their goalie to try and get back into the game. While Verona attempted to put the game away with an empty net goal, the Wildcats were unsuccessful. However, they did keep the Cardinals from scoring and Verona won 3-1.

Middleton's McConnell had 8 saves in the third for a game total of 31, while Jones had 5 saves in the final period and finished with 18 total for Verona.