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Overtime Heroics Send Verona to the Championship

By WiPH Staff, 03/03/23, 3:15PM CST

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Hudson and Verona comprise all three state championships since the WIAA going to two divisions with hockey. Verona took the first, and Hudson took the next two. 

Friday at Bob Suter's Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton they battled for the right to head back to the championship game.

Today the two titans needed overtime to settle it, as they were tied every step of the way, but it was Verona who came away with a 4-3 win.

Verona got on the board first at 5:19 of the first when Reece Cordray streaked in on the right side and sniped the top corner from outside the hashmarks.

The lead wouldn't last long however, as Hudson would answer back just 9 seconds later. Alex Pottratz won an offensive zone faceoff through his opponent's legs, went around him and picked it up and passed it across to Harry Ross who had a wide open net to make it a 1-1 game.

The teams came back out for the second with the same vigor and Hudson took the lead at the 3:35 mark when Gannon Blaiser and Truman Zerse came in on a 2-on-2, and Blaiser kept it and lifted it up over the goalie's shoulder to give Hudson the 2-1 lead.

The lead lasted just 31 seconds left as Condrad Moline scored on the short side from a low angle on a Verona power play to bring the lead back to even and another power play 2:30 later saw Verona take the lead as Lars Brotzman hit the blocker side corner through traffic.

Hudson brought the game back to even at 4:19 of the third period. Ross hit Strapon in the corner and he headed toward the back of the net. He passed out front and found Pottratz who put it in to tie the game. 

The game stayed tied, and tense for the remainder of regulation and we were headed to overtime.  Hudson came within inches of putting one in, but couldn't get it across the line before David Dina hit a streaking Condrad Moline on a break away. Moline went five-hole and Aiden Tepper-Engh got a big chunk of it but it managed to trickle through and give Verona the 4-3 win.

Tepper-Engh stopped 17 of 21 for Hudson in the loss. Blake Craven stopped 20 of 23 in the win for Verona, who will face an undefeated Notre Dame Academy in the championship game.

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