The University School boys’ hockey team ended the regular season on a down note Friday.  The Wildcats  lost to Onalaska 4-1 in a non-conference game at the Omni Center in Onalaska.

Although the shots in the game were even, USM never led in the match against the Hilltoppers who are ranked tenth in the state. The Hilltoppers took the lead on a power play goal by junior parker Tepp in the early portion of the first period The Wildcats did tie the score at 1-1 in the first period on a power play goal by junior Brandon McGill, but that was all they could muster.  Senior Sam Lass gave the Hilltoppers their winning goal midway through the second period.   Senior Tyler Ebner added a goal in the opening minute of the third period, and junior Cam Oberweiser tallied an empty netter in the final minute of the third. 

Sophomore Hayes Weiner made 23 saves for the Hilltoppers.  Senior John Ostermeyer stopped 9 shots and senior Mac Schmidt stopped 11 for the visitors.

"It was a tough game against a strong opponent,” said USM’s head coach Jason Woods as he shook his head. “We were short handed, missing some key guys, but that is no excuse.  We just didn't do near enough to win, and that's concerning.  We need to play harder, much harder.  We’re moving onto playoff time.  We need to play with a ton of passion and even some desperation to achieve our goals.  Time for us to step it up with a great week of practice leading into Friday."

The Hilltoppers capitalized on their first power play opportunity just 4:47 into the contest.  The Hilltoppers got the puck into the USM zone and began to work it around the top of their umbrella.  From the right side senior Sam Dambrowski moved the puck across to Lass on the left.  Lass passed it to the center of the blue line to Tepp.  Tepp’s slapper whizzed past Ostermeyer to give the Hilltoppers their first lead.

The Wildcats were able to score their lone goal on a power play later in the period.  As the Wildcats moved the puck in the Onalaska zone, senior Jersey Judge passed the puck to senior Jake Kandel who was at the center of the Onalaska blue line.  Kandel passed it to junior Logan Geisness near the right circle.  Geisness one-timed a slap shot at Weiner.  The rebound caromed to McGill in the slot and McGill whipped a wrister into the net at 12:08.

The Hilltoppers scored their second goal at 8:09 of the second period.  As they forechecked in the USM zone, freshman defenseman Ryan Gargaro intercepted an errant USM breakout pass at the blue line.  Gargaro took several steps toward the center of the line and drilled a hard slap shot at Ostermeyer.  The rebound came back to Gargaro, so he shot again.  Ostermeyer stopped it, but the puck trickled away.  Lass was unguarded at the edge of the crease.  He had two unimpeded chances to jam it under Ostermeyer.  He succeeded on the second for the goal.

The shot totals were 15 apiece at the end of the second period.  The Hilltoppers scored again on their first shot in the third period at 0:28. In the Onalaska zone, sophomore Jacob Dirks blocked a point shot.  The puck flipped to Oberweiser who broke away on a two-on-one with Ebner.  As he skated into the slot in the USM end, Oberweiser passed the puck to Ebner who one-timed a slap shot past Schmidt, who had replaced Ostermeyer midway through the second period. 

Oberweiser sealed the victory for Onalaska when he pulled the puck away from a USM player along the boards in center ice and gunned a shot into an empty net at 16:23.

USM ended the regular season at 16-6-2 and 5-1-1 in the Classic Eight Conference. Onalska finished with a 21-3 record and 8-0 in the Mississippi Valley Conference. 

Each team is seeded first in their respective state tournament sectionals. To start their WIAA state tournament playoffs at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 18th, the Hilltoppers will host a Sectional 4 Regional Final against the winner of Tuesday’s game between the Viroqua Co-op and Lacrosse Central/Logan.  The Wildcats will play in a Sectional 8 Regional Final at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 19th at USM.  USM will face the winner of the February 16th Regional semi-final game between St. Mary’s Springs and Sheboygan.