Teams
| By Jason Feldman The Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
The Verona (Wis.) Wildcats had a lot of depth last season when they advanced to the state semifinals. They also lost a lot of depth when 13 players from that team graduated. But Keryluk, now a senior forward, also knows how strong Verona's junior varsity program has been in recent seasons. Through the first 10 games this season, Keryluk, a Wildcats' captain, has watched as those young players have become varsity mainstays. The Wildcats' depth was evident Friday as they received goals from three different lines and one each from five players in a 5-1 victory against New Ulm in a Kiwanis/Think Mutual Bank Class A Festival semifinal game. "(The depth) is extremely important," Keryluk said. "We have a bunch of guys who have come up from a strong JV team. Those guys have all figured out their roles on the team and played them very well." Keryluk got the Wildcats (9-1-0) off to a quick start Friday, scoring 1:11 into the game. Liam Schmitt, Charlie Parker, Alex Edwards and Nolan Kepler also scored for Verona, the No. 4-ranked team in Wisconsin. Colin Huffman scored New Ulm's only goal, and Brach Kraus made 31 saves for the Eagles (5-4-1). Verona has won two consecutive holiday tournaments, winning last season at D.C. Everest in Wisconsin and the year before at Madison, Wis. Tonight they'll go for three in a row against a physical Kansas City team at 8 p.m. at Graham Arena IV. "Every year, we set team goals, and winning the holiday tournament is always right up there with winning the conference," Verona coach Joel Marshall said. "Every game we play, we just have to focus on ourselves, do the little things right and keep playing as a team. "We got contributions from every line today and five different goal-scorers. That shows our depth." Keryluk said the Wildcats hope to win today to gain some confidence as they chase another berth in the state tournament. "This is extremely important to us," he said. "We're one of the better teams in our conference, and we're kind of on a train going through the season there. (Winning) this would be very important for our confidence." VERONA 5, NEW ULM 1 New Ulm: Colin Huffman 1 goal; Lucas Heiderscheit 1 assist; Brach Kraus 31 saves. Verona: Liam Schmitt 1 goal, 1 assist; Brodie Roehrig 2 assists; Zac Keryluk 1 goal; Charlie Parker 1 goal; Alex Edwards 1 goal; Nolan Kepler 1 goal; Zach Jones 1 assist; Harry Seid 1 assist; Alex Jones 13 saves. K.C. wins in OT Brandon Hawkins scored 1:21 into overtime to lift Kansas City to a 4-3 victory against Northland Pines and into today's championship game against Verona, Wis. Kansas City (17-3-0) led 3-1 when Hawkins set up Logan Lopicka for a goal 3:11 into the third period. But Northland Pines (7-2-0) responded with goals from Adam Kresl and Alex Kornely just 1:01 apart midway through the third period to force overtime. The Eagles outshot Kansas City, 36-17. Hawkins' goal set off a loud cheer from the Jets' bench and cheering section, though the Northland Pines players felt like the net had dislodged and the goal shouldn't have counted. The officials huddled with the Eagles' captains, but the goal was allowed to stand, and the Jets will play for the Festival championship in their first trip to the tournament. Jeffery Anderson and Garet Ready also scored for the Jets in the victory. Austin Ramesh scored the other goal for Northland Pines, from Eagle River, Wis. K.C. 4, N. Pines 3, OT Kansas City: Jeffery Anderson 1 goal; Yale Van Dyne 2 assists; Garet Ready 1 goal; Logan Adkins 2 assists; Brandon Hawkins 1 goal, 1 assist; Logan Lopicka 1 goal; Anthony Galliart 33 saves. Northland Pines: Austin Ramesh 1 goal; Dylan Weber 2 assists; Trevor Laszczkowski 1 assist; Adam Kresl 1 goal; Devin Sauvola 1 assist; Alex Kornely 1 goal; Lourdes bounces back Rochester Lourdes came back less than 24 hours after a tough loss and dominated in nearly every phase of its consolation semifinal against Ashwaubenon, Wis. The only place Lourdes didn't dominate was the scoreboard, thanks to Jaguars' junior goalie Ryan Wischow. The Eagles outshot Ashwaubenon 48-5, but Alex Funk's goal halfway through the third period was the only score of the game, as Lourdes won 1-0. Wischow stopped 47 shots and held Lourdes without a goal on three power-play opportunities. The Eagles (6-2-0), ranked No. 6 in Minnesota Class A hockey, were much better in their defensive end against the Jaguars (1-7-1) than they were a night earlier in a 4-2 loss to Northland Pines. Ashwaubenon managed one shot on goal in the first period, four in the second and none in the third, even with Wischow pulled for an extra attacker for the final 45 seconds. Andrew Ellingson stopped all five shots he faced to earn the victory. LOURDES 1, ASHWAUBENON 0 Ashwaubenon: Ryan Wischow 47 saves. Rochester Lourdes: Alex Funk 1 goal; Jason Samuelson 1 assist; Andrew Ellingson 5 saves. WSFLG tops Dodge County Five players scored once each as the WSFLG Blizzard moved into the fifth-place game by beating Dodge County, 5-3. The Blizzard (4-5-1) led 2-0 just 1:49 into the game, but Dodge County settled in and tied the score on two second-period goals by Stefan Rechtzigel, including one short-handed tally. Rechtzigel also scored late in the third to complete his hat trick. WSFLG answered back, though, scoring three consecutive goals to put the game away. Bryce Ryan, Alex Hopkins, Matt Larson, Vinny Larson and Aaron Dietmeier scored for the Blizzard. Mitch Sobotta stopped 16 shots for Dodge County (3-8-0), and Brandon Roufs made 23 saves for the Blizzard. WSFLG 5, DODGE COUNTY 3 Dodge County: Stefan Rechtzigel 3 goals; Bryan Knesel 1 assist; Kylo Courteau 1 assist; Spencer Senn 1 assist; Mitch Sobotta 16 saves. WSFLG: Bryce Ryan 1 goal, 2 assists; Alex Hopkins 1 goal, 1 assist; Matt Larson 1 goal, 1 assist; Vinny Larson 1 goal; Aaron Dietmeier 1 goal; Drew Alderman 1 assist; Andrew Coy 1 assist; Brandon Roufs 23 saves. |