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Long stands strong for Rockets in 4-0 shutout

By Michael Trzinski, WiPH Staff, 02/22/17, 12:30AM CST

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Junior goalie stops 16 in crucial final period to preserve win


Neenah/Hortonville/Menasha goalie Preston Long took a second to look around during a stoppage in play and heard the Rockets' student section chanting 'MVP, MVP, MVP.' 

And it was well-deserved as the junior netminder stopped 16 pucks in the final period as Appleton United unleashed shots from every angle. No matter—Long prevented United from scoring and N/H/M earned a hard-fought 4-0 win in the Sectional 5 semi-final held on a balmy, 50 degree Tuesday evening at the Tri-County Ice Arena.

The first period was scoreless as both teams raced up and down the ice with little to show for it. Dillon Fox bounced a shot off the right shoulder of AU goalie Gage Olson, but the puck went just wide of the post in the middle of the period.

As time was winding down, Jack Kraus fired a shot from the high slot that went bar-up to keep the game at zero. Shots were 6-3 in favor of AU in the period.

The Rockets launched an attack in the middle period and as a result, scored three times in a span of 2:41 in the middle of the stanza.

Alec Elkin fired a shot from the right side that was stopped by Olson, but the rebound bounced out to Tyler Hafeman—stationed on the left side—and he buried it past the AU goalie for a 1-0 lead.

Shortly after, an AU penalty put the Rockets on the power play and this time it was Reid Molitor's turn, banging home the rebound from the other side of the net to increase the lead to 2-0. Travis Treml earned an assist on the play.

Less than one minute later, Elkin's goal made it 3-0, with helpers to Hafeman and Owen Engel. The trio of goals in less than three minutes caused United coach Mike Brolsma to take his timeout with 6:30 left in the period.

Said N/H/M co-coach Mike Elkin: "We decided to work on our forecheck a little harder in the second and that created some loose pucks for us. Three ugly goals but they all count the same."

Late in the period, Matthew Gruber had the puck behind the net and slid it out front to Erik Horman, but Long came up big with a pad save of the point-blank shot to keep the shutout intact.

The Rockets held a 12-6 shot margin in the period.

WiPH Game Summaries

Each squad had a power play chance early in the the third, but neither team converted as the score stayed at 3-0, Rockets.

Then, with just over three minutes left, Brolsma pulled Olson for an extra attacker, but Treml foiled that strategy with an empty-netter with 23.8 seconds left to seal the 4-0 victory.

AU fired off 16 shots, compared to only three for N/H/M in a period that except for the score, the guests won handily, giving it their all in a last-minute effort to earn a win to keep their state title defense hopes alive.

But thanks to a 28-save performance by Long, it was not to be. Olson stopped 14 shots for Appleton United, who finished the season at 16-9-1.

"We blocked a lot of shots in that third period and we played really good d-zone (coverage) and they had some good scoring opportunities, but a lot of their shots were from the outside and it's tough to get those through," said Elkin. "But Preston is a competitor and he competes hard and tonight was no different." 

Neenah/Hortonville/Menasha (18-8) advances to the Sectional 5 title game against Bay Port, a 4-2 winner over Notre Dame, on Saturday afternoon at Cornerstone Community Center.

"You have to look at the task at hand, what's staring you in the face, and that is a very good Bay Port team," noted Elkin.