It’s always good to get a win for Christmas. The University School boys’ hockey team made the holidays happier as the Wildcats defeated the Brookfield Stars co-op 7-1 in a Classic Eight Conference game on Friday, December 21st at the Ponds of Brookfield.
The teams entered the game tied for first place in the conference, but the Wildcats put coal in the Stars’ stockings and demonstrated that they deserved the league’s top spot. They outshot their hosts 42-13 and outscored them readily in the lopsided contest.
Blake Carey, one of USM’s captains who scored two goals in the game, said, “Obviously, we came out hard and ready to go. With this being our first game in two weeks, all of us were excited to get back into playing hockey games. There was a lot to like from many different guys on the roster, and we prepared to build off of that. Overall it was a well-deserved win and a good step forward for us.”
USM got the scoring going early. Tyler Herzberg snared an errant Stars’ clearing attempt just inside the Brookfield blue line. He quickly fired a shot on Malcolm Jennings, the Stars’ starting goalie. The rebound came out front, and Carey swiftly snapped it back into the net just 6:41 into the game.
The goal opened the scoring doors for the Wildcats. They added two more goals in the first period.
USM scored again less than three minutes later. Defenseman Ethan Ford sent the puck into the left corner of the Stars’ zone to Ethan Mann. Mann spotted Alex Thundercloud unmarked in the right circle and passed the puck to his tape. Thundercloud ripped a quick shot past Jennings at 9:27.
The Wildcats scored their third goal at 14:12 of the opening frame when Casey Roepke made a dash from the USM blue line, cruised around two defenders, and took a close in shot at Jennings. Following closely, Mann jammed the rebound into the net.
USM scored three more times in the second period. Even though the Wildcats began the period shorthanded, they made the score 4-0 right away. The Wildcats sent the puck deep into the Brookfield end. Robby Newton sped in and stripped the puck away from an unsuspecting Stars’ defensemen. Newton swiftly swept the puck out to the low slot to Carey who blasted it in at 0:12.
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The Wildcats made it 5-0 at 5:30. Forechecking behind the Brookfield net, Sterling Cooke knocked the puck away from a defender. It skittered to Mann in the left corner. Mann passed it back to Cooke. Cooke whirled out front and stuffed the puck past Jennings.
USM’s sixth goal put the clock on running time at 10:03 of the second. Skating into the Brookfield zone, Reid Woods was checked by a defenseman near the blue line, but Woods was able to push the puck farther along the right boards to Mann. Mann saw that Cooke had snuck like a cat burglar all alone in front of the Stars’ net. Mann passed the puck to Cooke who caught, pulled it past Emmett Peters, who had replaced Jennings in the goal, and pumped it into the net.
Brookfield finally scored a goal early in the third period. Christian Wagner chased a USM defenseman into the left corner of the USM zone and knocked the puck away from the defender’s stick. It rolled to the mid-boards to Caleb Albergo. Like he was taking a stroll in the park, Albergo skated unchecked into the low slot. As he did, he dropped the puck to Nathan Rozeman, who fired it at Frank Fee, USM’s goaltender. Wagner had moved out front and jammed the rebound into the net at 5:51.
That stopped the running clock for a while, but the Wildcats put it back on running time just under three minutes later when they tallied the game’s final goal. USM was skating shorthanded at the time. Just inside the USM blue line, defenseman Charlie Keough stepped up on a Brookfield skater and knocked the puck into center ice. Cooke raced to it and zoomed in on a breakaway. He deked Peters then slipped the puck into the net at 8:41.
Summing up, Jason Woods, USM’s head coach, said, “Just an overall excellent game by our boys. Coming off not playing for two weeks and exams ending yesterday, I wasn’t sure how we would respond. That was answered quickly as we got off to a great start and kept rolling. It was a total team effort. We were able to get a lot of kids on the ice and all responded with positive plays. Now it’s time to enjoy the holiday time with our families and get ready for the Schwan Cup Tournament in Minnesota."
Brookfield is 3-5-2 and 2-1 in the Classic Eight Conference. The Stars play Beloit Memorial in a non-conference game at 6:30 p.m. at the Ponds of Brookfield in Brookfield.
USM is 7-1 and 2-0 in the Classic Eight Conference. The Wildcats travel to Minnesota to compete in the Bronze Division of the annual Schwan’s Cup Tournament. They open tournament action by playing Rogers High School of Rogers, Minnesota in a non-conference game at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 29th at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota.
