The University School boys’ hockey team defeated Greendale 7-0 in a Classic Eight Conference game on Tuesday, January 28th at USM.
It was Senior Night at USM. The Wildcats and their fans celebrated the hockey careers of the team’s three captains, Blake Carey, TJ Fenton, and Tyler Herzberg, as well as their classmates, George Graham, Everett Cox, Patrick Kelly, Alvin Pokel, and Alex Thundercloud.
Those in attendance also saw USM celebrate a victory.
Kelly made 6 saves playing in goal for the home team during the first two periods, then he relinquished the duty to freshman Michael Polston who made 4 saves in the final 17 minutes. Freshman Matt Risser stopped 39 of USM’s 46 shots for the Ice Force.
“Kind of a listless game tonight, but it is what it is,” said Jason Woods, USM’s head coach. “We have a lot of big games ahead, and we just needed to get this one completed. I also thought the Ice Force goalie had a great game as well. It was great to honor our seniors with a game where everyone gets plenty of ice time. I love these seniors; they have had an unreal four years.”
The Wildcats outshot their guests, 16-4 in the first period, but they did not put one of those shots in the net until over half of the period had elapsed. At 10:00, Carey collected the puck in the Greendale left corner and passed it along the boards to Thundercloud at the blue line. Thundercloud gunned a low shot. Sophomore Ethan Thombs tipped the puck past Risser.
USM made it 2-0 just over a minute later. From a faceoff in the Wildcats’ zone, Junior Noah Eghbali got the puck and wrung it around the boards to Herzberg on the right side. Herzberg immediately tipped the puck to Carey who was cutting through the center. Carey zoomed into the Ice Force zone, pulled the puck away from a defenseman then rifled a shot into the net from the left circle at 11:06.
The Wildcats scored three goals in the latter half of the second period. The first of these came at 9:14. Carey snared a loose puck in the Ice Force’s left circle, skated behind the net and centered a pass to Herzberg in the slot. Herzberg swiftly one-timed it home.
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USM scored again at 13:03. From the Greendale blue line, Thundercloud took a shot. Risser blocked the puck to the side. Junior Reid Woods skated to it and punched it between the pipe and the net to give USM a four-goal lead.
The Wildcats made it 5-0 just over two-minutes later. From a faceoff in the Greendale right circle, Eghbali drew the puck to junior Kyler Ringgold who passed it out to the far point to Thundercloud. Thundercloud fired it into Risser’s pads. The rebound came out to Ringgold who slammed it in at 15:19.
In the third period, the Wildcats added two goals to their total. Thombs scored his second of the game at 3:39 with an assist going to Carey.
That put the clock on running time, but USM had time for another goal. Junior Charlie Keough scored it at 9:25 off assists by Woods and Eghbali.
After the game Herzberg spoke for his classmates, saying, “Senior Night for the guys, so we knew we had to come out and honor the seniors. It’s always good to see the guys playing for each other and good to get another conference win. We are looking forward to Homestead and tough games to come.”
USM is 14-3-1 and 5-0 in the Classic Eight Conference. As Herzberg noted, the Wildcats play Homestead in a non-conference game at 7:40 p.m. on Wednesday, January 29th at Ozaukee Ice Center in Cedarburg.
