Midway through the second period, people in the South Wood County Rec Center were shaking their heads at the amazing job that RWD goalie Shane Moilanen was doing to keep the puck out of the net.

Onalaska tried nine times, only to see the senior make an acrobatic stop or sliding save to frustrate the Hilltoppers throughout the 17 minute session.

In the end, it was enough as the Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells co-op defeated Onalaska 4-2 in the sectional four final contest to earn their first state tournament bid.

RWD began the game on a mission and if not for Ona goalie Scott Sibik, the game could have gotten completely out of hand early. Sibik had a couple of key saves in the first few minutes, keeping RWD off the board.

RWD did get on the board first when a shot from the high slot by Alex Yacko seemingly deflected off a stick or skate and skipped through the five hole of Sibik. Alex Cooper got the assist at the 8:02 mark.

Just over two minutes later, the duo paired up again on a sweet give-and-go which resulted in a goal from the back door to make it 2-0 at 10:25. Josh Krueger also got a helper on the play.

The period would end with the same score and a 10-6 shot edge for RWD.

Early in the second, the teams exchanged scoring chances for the first half of the period but were unable to score.

Star Hilltopper forward Jesse Tredinnick had a couple good opportunities, but Moilanen turned aside both shots to keep Ona scoreless.

Leading RWD scorer Luke Bjorklund notched his 33rd goal of the year when his shot from the high slot sailed past Sibik's right shoulder and into the back of the net, marking the end of the evening for the Ona starting netminder at the 11:44 mark of the second. Noah White took over in relief, with Sibik stopping 14 pucks in his 28 minutes of work.

The teams skated to the locker rooms with RWD holding a 3-0 lead while outshooting the Hilltoppers 11-9 in the stanza.

Two-time state participant Onalaska was not going to ride off silently into the night, and scored two goals in the first six minutes of the third to tighten up the contest to a 3-2 margin.

While on the power play, Ona worked the overload to perfection as Gabe Flood's pass from the left boards to Keaton Bronston in the slot ended in the back of the net, courtesy of a beautiful re-direct at the 3:54 mark to make it 3-1. Jake Hanson also earned an assist.

A couple minutes later, Flood ripped a shot from the slot to cut the lead to 3-2 and get the Onalaska fans back into the game. The unassisted goal came at 6:08.

At this point, RWD took a time-out and co-coaches Neil Mattson and Jeremy Klosowski talked strategy with a team that was slightly less confident than they had been just six minutes earlier.

The game settled down, with neither team really taking advantage for the next five minutes.

But then Krueger scored on an acrobatic goal at 11:09 to more or less put the game out of reach. After grabbing a pass in the slot, he loosed a shot while falling on his backside that slid past White to make it 4-2. Mike Preskar and Tyson Borchert earned helpers on the play.

The pace for the last six minutes was breakneck, but neither team was able to put the biscuit in the net and as the clock ticked down to zero, RWD players littered the ice with sticks and gloves, piling on Moilanen in front of the net as fans in the bleachers yelled and hugged, celebrating the biggest win in RWD history. 

Moilanen stopped 21 shots, many of them point-blank chances. Sibik and White (7) combined for 21 saves for Ona, who ended their fine season at 20-6.

RWD (21-5) will play top-ranked Eau Claire Memorial in the quarterfinal round at the Alliant Energy Center next Thursday at 6pm.