skip navigation

Badgerland Battle: Warriors defeat undefeated Ledgers 3-2

By Jeff Sauer, Waupun , 12/08/17, 10:45PM CST

Share

Waupun holds off Springs for tough win

A classic Badgerland battle took place between undefeated St. Mary’s Springs (4-0) and the Waupun Warriors (3-1) at the Waupun Community Center.  And when we say classic, it was hard hitting, a lot of trips up and down the ice, and a very close game.  After the third period buzzer, the Warriors came out on top with a 3-2 victory handing Springs their first loss of the season.

Waupun struck first with 1:57 remaining in the first period when Colin Holz ripped a wrist shot passed Springs Goalie Colin Ahern after receiving a pass from Loden Lemmenes.  The Warriors held the lead to the end of the third period.  Springs was dominant in the shots for the period with Waupun spending some time short-handed.

In the second period, Springs came out with a vengeance to get back into the game.  On the fourth power play of the game for the Ledgers, they were finally able to get one passed Waupun Goalie Caleb Sauer 4:35 into the second period to tie up the game.  Levi Poss drove to the net and chipped one over the shoulder of Sauer after Springs ran a beautiful cycle in the corner and made clean passes from Jack Sabel and Noah Pickart to Poss for the score.  At 10:35 into the second period Waupun seized the lead back on their own power play.  Carter Flegner fired a slap shot from the high point after receiving a solid pass from Cam Beek.  The Warriors held on to the lead through the end of the period and would be starting the third period on the power play.

At the beginning of the third period, the Warriors capitalized on the power play.  Carson Schramm took up his new position on power play down in front of the net.  Once again Carter Flegner fired a slapshot toward the net after receiving a long pass from Cam Beek.  Schram with his quick hands and big body was able to get his stick on the ice and redirect the puck passed Ahern at 1:05 into the third period for the 3rd score for the Warriors.  And then the game really took off.

Springs went on the attack and really attacked the Warrior zone.  But the Warrior defense was up to each challenge and was able to attack the offensive zone. The hitting became more intense as each shot attempt on both sides raised the adrenaline levels.  With a freeze taking place with about 1:52 left in the third period, Springs pulled Ahern to add the 6th attacker.  The Warriors battled hard while the Ledgers put an incredible flurry of attacks at the Warriors defense and Sauer in net.  And finally a crack in the Waupun defense as Zach Walsh picked up a rebound shot from Justin Schwartzmiller who took a shot after receiving a pass from Cade Tennesen with 13 seconds left in the game to close the gap to 3-2. 

Springs stayed with the same strategy on the center ice face off keeping Ahern on the bench in favor of a 6th attacker.  The Warriors were able to secure the puck in their zone for the remainder of the game and pull off the victory handing Springs its first loss of the season and more importantly for the Warriors a win in the Badgerland conference over the well-deserved pre-season selected 2nd place team in the conference.  More importantly this win for the Warriors will also factor into the seeding for Section 8 toward the end of the season which is currently being dominated by USM.

Waupun’s next game is another Badgerland conference foe Appleton on Friday December 15th in Appleton.

WiPH Game Summaries