But, talk about your happy endings.

 

Yacko’s snap shot to the top corner on the glove side just past the halfway mark of a second overtime period brought a sudden and thrilling end to the biggest and most exciting game RWD has played in its short year and a half of existence.

 

The 3-2 victory over the Prairie Ridge Wolves of Illinois wrapped up a perfect 8-0 month of December for RWD, boosted its overall record to 10-2 and gave the home team the first keeper trophy in what will be an annual Chula Vista Classic tournament.

 

Snake bit on a couple of earlier opportunities, Yacko made no mistake in the overtime segment, getting to a loose puck and going in 2-on-1 on a Prairie Ridge defender along with Alex Cooper on the right side.

 

Yacko elected to shoot and rifled the shot past Ryan Fichuk, the 39th and final shot of the game for the hosts.

 

The game winner triggered a Stanley Cup -like celebration on the ice.

 

Earlier in the game Yacko had a puck jump over his stick as he stood alone to the left of the goal staring at the mesh – Fichuk stranded on the opposite goal. So eventually potting the game winner was definitely sweet redemption for him.

 

"Yeah, it’s a great feeling. I knew, if that if I missed it, we were going to have a power play because (the defender) tripped me. So I was hoping it would go in...but (knew a power play was coming)."

 

Yacko’s goal raised him into status as the game’s final hero, but really, he just capped off a great effort as virtually everyone who stepped on the ice made big plays, blocking shots, winning the battles on the boards, letting goaltender Shane Moilanen, who continued his solid string of late with 45 saves on 47 shots, see the puck. The game started with high intensity and there was no let up until Yacko’s goal brought the game to a sudden end.

 

Without a doubt, the win, against a team that knocked off state-ranked Beloit just 24 hours earlier, is the biggest in two seasons. But at this point, the Cheavers are taking the ice expecting to win no matter who the opponent.

 

"That (attitude) is from our coaching staff all of the way down to the 35th guy, on the JV team," said co-head coach Jeremy Klosowski afterward. "There’s a lot of expectations on this team. There has been from moment one."

 

Klosowski said the coaches had specific thoughts and goals of where they wanted to be when 2010 came to a close and they have exceeded even their own hopes.

 

"They’re awesome," he said. "It’s just a great group of guys we’ve got this year, from the classroom all of the way out to the rink, it’s just great with these guys."

 

"One of the best parts you got going, is you’ve got a team that’s 9-2 coming into tonight. We told the kids, the two losses we have, we expected. But now, to be considered a top echelon team we need to beat a team like we did tonight. And now, we’re going down the stretch, we’ve got a real tough game coming up a week from Friday against Waunakee. That’s great. We told the kids, enjoy this for the next three days, but you can either take greatness from this game or come back down to reality and realize we still have a lot of hard work ahead of us, 11 more games to go."

 

Out shot 16-9 in the first period, Moilanen carried the load, stopping everything he could see and teams were scoreless heading to the middle stanza.

 

From there, shots were more even, 21 each the rest of the way in a back-and-forth contest.

 

The Illinois team notched the first goal 4-on-4, but Cooper evened it about four minutes later, one timing a pass from behind the net past the surprised goaltender. Assists went to Luke Bjorklund and Ryan Theiler.

 

Ironically, what looked like the game winner from a guy known for his heavy shot came when defender Josh Krueger actually faked the slapper, then stepped around a defender and snapped it home with a shot similar to the eventual game winner by Yacko.

 

That goal came with 9:11 to play and the Prairie Ridge team had a brief breakdown afterward that included a bench minor and some undisciplined play on the ice, but they settled down late and notched the equalizer with Fichuk sitting on the bench in favor of an extra attacker 96 seconds from the final buzzer.

 

RWD had dominant wins against both Sauk Prairie (8-2) and Stevens Point Pacelli (6-0) to reach the final while Pleasant Prairie opened with an 8-2 whipping of Madison East, then handled Beloit Memorial 3-2 in the second round.

 

Beloit, also at 10-2 on the season, bounced back with a 9-0 win over Pacelli to clinch third place in the tournament.

 

Sauk Prairie claimed the consolation title with an 8-4 win over Madison East/LaFollette and the seventh place battle saw Beaver Dam whipping Viroqua 7-1.

 

Next up for the RWD squad is a Badger North Conference match on Jan. 7 against the Waunakee Warriors.

 

Following that, the local squad will play five straight games, or the rest of January, on the road before coming home again Feb. 1.