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Caufield leads SPASH comeback

By Michael Trzinski, WiPH Staff, 11/30/16, 12:30AM CST

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Panthers score four in final period for 4-2 win

The SPASH Panthers scored four times in the final 17 minutes of play in the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Game of the Week to defeat the visiting Antigo Red Robins 4-2 Tuesday night at KB Willett Arena.

In a game where there were a handful of momentum changes, the home team took advantage of theirs in the third period, scoring twice in the first two minutes of play to tie the game before scoring again in the middle of the period and adding an empty netter to account for the final tally.

Antigo came out hard and fast in the first period and took it to the hosts, scoring six minutes into the contest.

CJ Levis scored from the slot on a pass from Tyler Husnick to make it 1-0 early. The Red Robins had a pair of power play chances in the first but couldn't cash in, including a shot by Husnick that just ticked off SPASH goalie Phil Trzebiatowski's glove and went wide right as the man advantage was winding down.

Point almost tied the game in the final minute of the period on a 2-on-1, but a back door pass just missed before the buzzer sounded on the period. Antigo Ben Bartletti had five saves in the period, while Trzebiatowski stopped ten shots for SPASH.

Two minutes into the middle period saw a trick shot goal, but it was disallowed. An Antigo player fired a shot from the top of the right circle, but it was deflected by a defender's stick off the KB Willett ceiling and into the net behind the Point goalkeeper. Nice try, but no goal.

Antigo almost extended its lead midway through the stanza, but Trzebiatowski kicked out his right pad to deny a shot on a 2-on-1 rush to keep the score at 1-0.

After each team failed at power play opportunities, the guests made it 2-0 with just under four minutes left.

Andrew Turunen fired a shot from the left dot that snicked off the goalie's glove and into the net for the two-goal lead. Helpers went to Garett Held and Isaac Wickersheim.

With one second left, an Antigo player was called for a hook and that would lead to a goal in the next period. Bartletti stopped four shots in the stanza, while Trzebiatowski made 12 saves for Point.

Cole Caufield continued his torrid play, scoring on the power play with assists to Barrett Brooks and Dayne Hoyord just 45 seconds into the period to cut the lead to 2-1. The Ohio State commit came into the game with four goals and four assists in his first two games of the season.

Just over a minute later, Jacob Beilke scored on a shot from the low left side that snuck through the squeezing pads of Bartletti to tie the game at two. The unassisted goal came at the 2:03 mark.

Caufield gave SPASH the lead for good on a one-timer from the slot on a pass from Devon Blaes, with an additional assist to Jacob Beilke with just under six minutes left.

Antigo took a time-out with 1:55 left and took the goalie off the ice, but an extra skater could not prevent Caufield's spinning rocket from the neutral zone that hit nothing but the back of the net with 1:27 left to seal the deal.

Trzebiatowski stopped seven shots in the period for a game total of 29, while Bartletti made three saves to finish with 12 saves on the night.

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Mayo Games of the Week