"We believe in playing the toughest competition we can find," said Cal Roadhouse, the head coach of the  University School boys hockey team. "Minnesota high school teams are always a good test for us." Consequently, the USM team travelled to The Blake School in Hopkins, Minnesota to participate in the 23rd Annual Bob Nelson Hockey Tournament.  The Wildcats found what they were seeking, tough opponents, and lost both of the games they played in the State of Hockey.

In the first round of the hockey tournament Friday, USM lost to the host school, Blake, 4-2.

The Bears out shot USM 41-18, but the play of sophomore goaltender Bryan Botcher kept the Wildcats in the game until the very end when Blake’s Mark Lyman tallied an empty net goal with 23 seconds left.

USM scored the game’s first goal just as a USM power play was ending in the first period. Vadim Sukahnov got the puck at the Blake blue line and sent a D to D pass along the line to Nathan Burke.  Burke fired a shot that hit Blake’s goalie Devon Johnson.  The rebound came out to USM’s Corey Roadhouse who immediately fired it past Johnson to make the score 1-0 at 8:00.

Blake tied it at a little over a minute later.  Coleman Dressen sent a pass to Zach Doerring skating along the side-boards in the USM end.  Doerring crossed a pass to Spencer Nass who was moving toward the far post.  Nass and the puck arrived at the target spot simultaneously, and Nass snapped it in at 9:38.

USM re-took the lead early in the second period.  Roadhouse and Joey Judge started together on a 2 on 1 break from the USM blue line.  As they skated into the Blake zone, Roadhouse took a shot, and the rebound came to Duncan Brown who was trailing the play.  Brown lined a quick shot on Johnson. The rebound caromed into the left corner.  Judge corralled it, skated around the net and, like he was stuffing a turkey, he put it past Johnson from in close at 4:24.

Blake tied it again at 8:31. Dressen pulled the puck away from a check along the boards in center ice and skated into the USM end. He pushed it to Johnny Austin who fired it at Botcher from the top of the left circle.  The rebound bounced to the right to Naas who banged in his second goal of the night.

Blake got the game winner later in the second period when Orion Olsen fired a shot from the point off the goal post and into the USM net at 13:31.  Naas was credited with an assist on the play.

In the game Johnson made 16 saves.  Botcher made 37 saves.

The Wildcats then faced Owatonna High School from Owatonna, MN in the tournament’s consolation round Saturday afternoon.

Owatonna scored the game's first goal when Justin Brown stripped the puck from a USM defender along the mid-boards in the USM end.  Brown kept his legs moving, skated deep into the zone unabated, cut toward the net, and jammed the puck under Botcher at 9:29 of the first period.

The Huskies made it 2-0 at the very start of the second period.  Off the center ice face-off, Brown took the puck and sped unrestrained into the USM zone.  He gunned a shot at Botcher.  The rebound bounced out to Owatonna's Gunnar Elstad who had also raced unimpeded into the zone.  Elstad one-timed his shot past Botcher just 10 seconds into the period.

USM pulled closer on a second period power play.  The Wildcats moved the puck around the Huskies zone.  It went to Burke at the blue line.  He fed a pass to Judge in the right circle. Judge crossed it to Roadhouse in the low left circle, and Roadhouse zipped a shot past Owatonna's goalie, Luke Ebeling, at 7:35.

The Huskies scored the game-winning goal early in the third period.  Cycling the puck in the USM right corner, Brian Kidd sent the puck to Mitchell Skelton below the goal line.  Skelton side-stepped a check and passed the puck to Matt Ratzloff, who was standing unchecked in the slot.  Ratzloff blazed a one-timer into the net at 3:15.

USM made the score 3-2 on another power play. From the side-boards in the Huskies' zone, Ben Walker passed the puck to Burke at the point.  Burke blasted a low shot from that high suburban position past Ebeling at 10:50.

The Wildcats played ferociously to tie the score, but their hard checking led to a penalty, which, in turn, led to an Owatonna power play.  Standing with his stick unlifted in front of the USM net, Brown tipped a shot from the point by Alex Whited into the net to seal the victory at 14:16.  Retzloff was also credited with an assist on the play.

With 1:04 left Owatonna's Bryce Peters scored an empty net goal to make it 5-2. Matt Ritter had an assist on the easy play.

USM returns to Wisconsin with a 1-3 record.  The Wildcats have a few days to lick their wounds and correct their faults.  Then they host two tough teams from Wausau. At 7:00 p.m. on Friday they play D.C. Everest.  The next afternoon they take on the reigning Wisconsin state champion, Wausau West at 4:00 p.m.