What a turnaround, and quite an upset.  After losing Friday night to unranked D.C. Everest, the University School boys’ hockey team stunned the state’s top-ranked team, Wausau West by a 4-1 margin in a non-conference game on Saturday, December 3rd at the Marathon Park Ice Arena in Wausau.

“What a great response to a below average performance last night,” said Jason Woods, USM’s head coach.  “The coaches challenged the leadership of the team to pull this team together, and they responded.  Our goalie Frank Fee was obviously outstanding, but the team as a whole played fantastic defense.  We knew we were not going to out-shoot an outstanding Wausau West team, so we concentrated our focus on the D zone and taking advantage of opportunities when we got them. I’m very proud to be a part of this win today.”

Woods and his staff were right about their opponent’s firepower and their sophomore goaltender.  The Warriors took 48 shots during the game.  Fee stopped 47 to help assure the Wildcats the win.  USM took only 19 shots, but the Wildcats scored on four of those chances.

Logan Geisness, one of USM’s senior captains, commented on the work effort of his teammates, “Frank stood on his head.  We made simple plays, got the puck in deep, and grinded.  We buried our opportunities.”

The Warriors scored the game’s first goal at 4:42 of the first period.  Senior Nick Techel intercepted an errant USM pass in the right corner of the USM zone.  He immediately fired a shot past Fee for the goal.  Junior Sam Techel was awarded an assist on the play.

The Warriors continued to pummel the Wildcat net with shots in the opening period, but Fee turned aside 19 of those shots to keep USM within striking distance.

The Wildcats finally struck midway through the second period.  Sophomore Andrew Malek pulled the puck from a scrum in the USM end and headed toward the far end.  A defender interrupted his progress near the right circle in the Warriors’ zone, but, undeterred, Malek battled for the puck, won it back, wheeled and fired a shot past Wausau West’s senior goalie, Jacob Warnke at 12:04.

Inspired, the Wildcats went ahead a little less than two minutes later.  Senior Charlie Mahoney sent a breakout pass to Geisness along the right boards in the USM zone.  As he got moving, Geisness passed the puck between the two Warrior defensemen to senior Nick Epperson, who was speeding like race car on premium gas through center ice.  Epperson took the pass, went in on a breakaway, deked Warnke and backhanded a shot into the Wausau West for what would prove to be the game-winning goal at 14:00.

USM went further ahead at 5:32 in the third period.  After a slap shot from the left point in the Warriors’ zone, a Wausau West defender tried to push the rebound to the corner.  Like a sharp shears, senior Brandon McGill cut it off near the left post and quickly passed the puck into the low slot to Geisness. Geisness shoveled it past Warnke to give USM a sigh of relief and a 3-1 lead.

The Wildcats scored the game’s final goal late in the third period.  Skating into the Wausau West zone, sophomore Robby Newton dropped a pass to his classmate Christian Blomquist.  Blomquist fired a shot that hit a defender and careened behind the net.  Newton hustled to get it and knocked it away from a defender.  Malek seized the loose puck, swung out front and like Santa stuffing a stocking, he put the puck past Warnke.

As a result of the big win, USM is now 3-1.  The Wildcats play Fond du Lac in a non-conference game at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6th at USM.