Goaltender Patrick Kelly recorded a shutout to lead the University School boys’ hockey team to victory over Kettle Moraine/Mukwonago/Oconomowoc in a Sectional 4 Semifinal of the WIAA Division 1 boys ice hockey tournament on Tuesday, February 25th at USM.  The Wildcats won by a 3-0 score.

The shot totals demonstrate how close the game was.  Kelly made 20 saves for USM.  The Lasers’ goalie, Tyler Arnold, stopped 25 of the 28 shots he faced.  The Wildcats needed power plays to escape the Lasers’ onslaught and score two of their three goals.

“It was a great team win tonight,” said USM coach, Matt Roadhouse. “The boys played a hard-working KMMO team and were up to the challenge. PK (Kelly) was great in net and fed off the energy and effort of the boys in front of him. We stayed strong defensively and continued to chip away at the KMMO defense and goaltending. Our power play came together at the right time and squeezed in a couple goals, which was huge for momentum. We’re excited for the challenge Arrowhead brings for the Sectional Final game ahead of us.”

Kelly made a couple of key saves in the first period, during which USM out shot the Lasers’ 11-5.  The Wildcats finally put one past Arnold on a power play late in the period.

As the Wildcats moved the puck around the KMMO zone, Blake Carey passed it from the right corner to Tyler Herzberg at the center of the blue line.  Herzberg moved to his left then fired a shot.  Peter Ells was in front and he tipped the puck past Arnold at 13:40.

The Lasers were not fazed.  They outshot their hosts 9-8 in the second period and kept things close.  But it was the Wildcats who were able to put a puck in the net in the period.

The Wildcats scored their second goal at 6:44 of the second period.  Alex Thundercloud checked the puck away from a KMMO forward along the boards in center ice.  The puck slid into the Wildcats’ zone.  Kyler Ringgold sped to it. As he swung to start up ice, he saw Carey coming on the ice on a change.  Ringgold backhanded a pass to Carey.  Carey took off on a breakaway like a jet from an aircraft carrier.  He flew toward the Lasers’ net. From the slot, Carey shot and scored.

Carey also scored the game’s final goal while USM was on a power play midway through the third period.  In the KMMO zone, Thundercloud passed the puck from the right point to Garrett Cox on the right mid-boards.  Cox zipped a crossing pass to Carey in the slot.  Carey buried it at 9:40 and in so doing, laid KMMO’s hopes to rest as well.

After the game, Herzberg, who is one of USM’s captains, said, “The boys came ready to play and battled hard. We cleaned up areas that needed to be cleaned up. The power play came up big tonight and got us goals. We’re ready for the Sectional Final.”

The loss drew the Lasers’ season to a close.  KMMO finished 2019-2020 with a 17-8-1 record.

USM is now 19-6-1.  The Wildcats, who are seeded second in the Sectional play the number 1 seed, Arrowhead, for a chance to go to Madison.  The Sectional 4 Final of the WIAA Division 1 boys ice hockey tournament between the two arch-rivals is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 29th  at The Ponds of Brookfield.