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Wilkins shuts out Wildcats in Pines Classic title match

By Tom Geilfuss, USM assistant , 01/26/20, 4:00PM CST

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Pines grabs 3-0 win over USM at The Dome

The Northland Pines boys’ hockey team defeated University School 3-0 in the championship game of the annual Pines Classic Tournament on Saturday, January 25th under the vaulted dome of the Eagle River Recreation Arena in Eagle River.

“It was a very good high school hockey game,” said Jason Woods, USM’s head coach. “Sadly, it just didn’t go our way. We have struggled to score against Pines in their building. It was no different today. The third period was a microcosm of the game. We pounded away, finished the period with twelve shots and zero goals. Meanwhile, Pines manages three shots and two go in. That’s hockey.”

The fans who were at the dome watched two of the top ranked teams in the state go at it. USM entered the game ranked 4th in the state in Division 1.  The Eagles held the second spot in the D2 rankings.

Brett Wilkins, the Eagles’ goalie, earned the shutout by stopping all 27 shots that the Wildcats’ put on net.  Patrick Kelly, USM’s goaltender, stopped 24 of the Eagles’ 27 shots.

The Eagles outshot their visitors 10-8 in the first period and scored the eventual game winner on one of those shots while on a power play.  Breaking out of the Eagles zone, Hunter Bill fired a cross ice pass to Max Brown in center ice.  Brown skated along the left boards into the corner of the USM zone.  As a defender went at him, Brown shoveled the puck to Zach Maillette, who skated behind the net, swung out front and whipped the puck past Kelly at 10:31.

The score stayed at 1-0 through the second period, a period in which Northland Pines outshot the Wildcats, 14-7.

As Woods noted, the Wildcats outshot the Eagles in the final 17 minutes, but the home team scored the period’s two goals.

The Eagles scored the first of their third-period goals at 3:35. As the Eagles forechecked, the puck bounced to defenseman Michael Paul who had moved in to the top of the right circle. Paul fired a shot toward the far post.  It went wide, but Gunnar Schiffmann caught it just below the goal line.  Schiffmann quickly passed it out front to Bill who snapped it past Kelly.

WiPH Game Summaries

The Eagles sealed the victory with a goal at 11:42. Defenseman Riley McGee stopped a USM clear at the center ice red line and dumped it toward the USM zone.  Maillette tipped it in at the blue line.  Schiffmann raced to it and carried it along the left boards and circled behind the net.  A USM defenseman hit him, but he was able to pass it to Alexander Sternhagen at the right point.  Sternhagen shot the puck into the net to ascertain that the Eagles would retain the Pines Classic trophy for another year.


The Wildcats made it to the championship game of the tournament by defeating the Mosinee Indians 7-3 in an opening round game on Friday, January 24th.

USM dominated the game.  The Wildcats outshot the Indians 51-15.  Stanford Swid made 44 saves in net for Mosinee.  Kelly stopped 11 shots in the USM net.

The Wildcats tallied the first two goals in the high-scoring affair.  Reid Woods scored on a pass from Blake Carey at 11:31 then Noah Eghbali converted a pass from Tyler Herzberg while USM was on a power play at 15:51.

The Indians managed to score a goal in the last minute of the first period.  Tyler Selenske made the score 2-1 at 16:13.  Trey Fitzgerald had an assist on the play.

The goal gave the Indians some early second-period momentum, and they tied the score at 2:35 when Max Beste scored.

The Wildcats quickly reversed the momentum.  They pulled away by scoring the game’s next five goals.

USM scored four of those goals in the second period. At 4:28, Carey gave Herzberg a pass, and Herzberg scored to give USM the lead once more.

Herzberg scored the eventual game-winning goal at 8:48 of the period.  His second goal of the game came as a result of passes by Kelly and Eghbali.

Ethan Thombs made it 5-2 at 10:47.  Woods and Kyler Ringgold received assists on the score.

At 15:56 of the second period, Peter Els took a pass from Alvin Pokel and fired the puck past Swid to give USM a solid lead heading into the final period of the contest.

The Wildcats scored their seventh goal on a power play midway through the period.  Garrett Cox scored it with the help of an assist by Charlie Keough at 8:08.

The Indians scored the game’s final goal just 24 seconds later when Tobias Holka put the puck in for an unassisted goal.

As a result of the weekend, USM is now 13-3-1 and 4-0 in the Classic Eight Conference.  The Wildcats returns from their northern trip to play Greendale in a Classic Eight Conference game at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28th at USM.