The Fox Cities Stars outscored the Oshkosh Icehawks in a shootout to take the Consolation Championship game of the Badgerland Conference Tournament on Saturday morning at the Community First Champion Center in Grand Chute.

The Badgerland Conference by-laws have not been amended to accommodate the new WIAA overtime procedure of one eight minute period at 5 on 5, followed by a five minute period at 3 on 3, so the game officially ends as a tie for WIAA purposes.

The game was the most competitive and most entertaining game of four played on Saturday.

Oshkosh did everything but score in the first period, out-shooting the Stars 11 to 5, but the only goal was scored by Fox Cities. Alex Walsh got hold of a rebound in the low slot and fired a quick shot past Oshkosh goalie Gage Bauer to get the Stars on the board.

Oshkosh coach John Thompson explained, "Throughout the season we have started games slow, and tend to play better in the 2nd and 3rd periods."

Early in the second period Ashton Bachas, from deep in his own zone, caught Oshkosh in a line change and hit Will Cote at the far blue line sending him in on Bauer all alone for a breakaway goal and a 2-0 lead.

"Gage Bauer, was really challenged this season and give him a lot of credit," said Thompson. "He came in this season as our JV goalie but when we lost our Varsity Goalie for the season, Gage was challenged to step up and assume the position as Varsity Goalie. As expected Gage has struggled over the season finding his groove and getting used to the game pace. That said, his last 4 games he has played have been his best all season and he is peaking at the right time."

Oshkosh got on the board later in the period after a brief scramble in front of the net. The puck eventually got poked out front, taking Stars goalie Mark Watson’s glove off in the process. Landon Braun pounced and cut the score to 2-1.

The third period started out a little slower, as perhaps fatigue was starting to set in, as each team had played the night before. Oshkosh tied the game with a rebound goal from Will Verstegen.
 
The game stayed tied until Nate Lamers picked up a late power play goal for Fox Cities with just 1:16 left. But the Stars immediately gave Oshkosh a chance to get it back.

“We should have won in regulation” said Stars coach Erik Larabell, “but one of my players made a comment to the other bench after we scored which put Oshkosh on the power play (with a chance) to tie the game.”

And tie the game they did, with just 26 seconds left in the third. Winston Knobloch was parked on the left face-off dot with his stick cocked. The pass came and Knobloch’s one-timer beat Watson and sent the game to overtime.

Oshkosh looked to carry their momentum into the overtime. Thompson added, "Knobloch scored a huge goal for the Team, and it's always a huge momentum boost for the Team. We actually prepare and practice for these situations so we actually have a protocol we run through."

With tired skaters, Larabell's Stars had to adjust for overtime, “I played 3 lines and once we went to OT, I played some skaters that were fresh and didn’t play as much.”

Lots of action and opportunities, but no scoring in the overtime period. Each squad scored twice in the three-man shootout, which sent them to a sudden-death shootout, where the Stars finally prevailed.

Thompson summarized, "This game by far was the best game we played all season, win or lose... To see the Team spirit displayed amongst the Players was awesome and something any Coach would be proud of. Very proud of all the players."