Tyler Herzberg’s goal in overtime gave the University School boys hockey team a 4-3 victory over Onalaska/La Crosse in a non-conference game on Saturday, February 15th at the Omni Center in Onalaska.
It was one of the wildest games in the annual end of the season matchup between these two powerful teams. Onalaska/La Crosse came into the game with a 20-2-1 record and USM came in with a 16-6-1 record.
The Hilltoppers were ready for their visitors. They outshot the Wildcats 13-5 in the first period, 10-6 in the second, 12-5 in the third, and 4-1 in the overtime. Patrick Kelly, USM’s goaltender, withstood the onslaught. He made 36 saves. At the other end of the ice, Sawyer Nitti made 13 saves.
There was no scoring in the first period and none until the last minute and a half of the second period. Then things seemed to explode.
At 15:28 USM broke the scoreless tie. Blake Carey stopped a Hilltopper breakout pass on the left boards. He passed the puck to Noah Eghbali who was skating down the slot. Eghbali shot and kept coming. Nitti stopped the puck but the rebound caromed off his pads to the right circle. Eghbali caught and fired another shot into the net.
The action in the final 17 minutes of regulation time grew intense. Between them, the teams scored five goals in the period.
The Hilltoppers tied the game at 1-1 while on a power play. Max Popp stopped a USM icing attempt at the USM blue line; he skated to the center, then passed the puck to Mason Manglitz on the right sideboards. Manglitz stickhandled into the circle and gunned a shot past Kelly at 6:44.
Onalaska/La Crosse took the lead at 9:34. Taking a faceoff in the right corner of the Hilltoppers zone, CJ Lass pulled the puck back. Popp skated to it and immediately wrung it around the base of the boards to Tommy Duren who was racing out of the zone. Duren caught the puck and sped off on a breakaway. He deked Kelly, then lofted a backhander into the upper part of the net.
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The Wildcats tied it once more just over a minute later. Breaking out of the USM zone, Peter Ells centered a pass to Alvin Pokel. Pokel dashed through center ice and skated to the left boards in the Hilltoppers end. As he neared the corner, he rifled a shot past Nitti at 9:07.
Then it was USM’s turn to take the lead. Blake Carey made it 3-2 at 14:50, with the help of passes by Herzberg and Alex Thundercloud.
The Hilltoppers tied it back up just 6 seconds later. Carter Stubbs scored at 14:56 with assists by Manglitz and Jordan Degaetano. Stubbs took the puck from the center ice faceoff, skated into the USM zone and whistled a wrist shot past Kelly to send the game into overtime.
Herzberg ended the game when Carey sent a pass from the center ice faceoff circle to him as he skated down the left boards. Entering the circle, he fired a wrist shot over Nitti’s shoulder for the goal at 4:11 of the overtime period.
“What a great way to finish the regular season,” said Jason Woods, USM’s head coach. “This game was easily one of the more gutsy wins I have seen. Playing a terrific Onalaska team with seven hours of bus rides on our legs, well, what an effort to find a way. Lots of credit to go around, but I’m particularly happy for Alvin Pokel. With all he has been through to just play the game he loves and then top it off with a huge momentum swinging goal in the third, that’s big-time stuff. Our senior class rode the wave of their last regular season game to victory. I’m proud of those guys for sure.”
Onalaska is 20-3-1. The Hilltoppers play the Aquinas co-op in the opening round of WIAA Division 1 boys ice hockey tournament, Sectional 1 playoffs, at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 18th at the Omni Center.
USM is 17-6-1. The Wildcats play the winner of the playoff game between Waukesha and New Berlin in a Sectional 4 quarter-final of the WIAA Division 1 boys ice hockey tournament at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 21st.
