Sports editor When Verona senior goaltender Matt Opsal was inserted midway through the second period of Saturday’s Big Eight Conference game at Middleton’s Capitol Ice Arena, neither he nor the Wildcats could have imagined what would come next. Having watched the host Cardinals rattle off three goals in the period to take a 3-2 lead, before pulling starter Travis Dahlk, Opsal shutdown Middleton, turning in seven saves throughout the third period and overtime en route to a 3-3 tie, which came in large part thanks to sophomore Charlie Parker’s third period power-play goal. “I was really nervous coming off the bench cold,” Opsal said. “You don’t know if your first shot is going to be a snipe or when it’s going to come ... I knew they would be coming hard when I stepped between the pipes.” The first time pulling the goaltender this season, Opsal’s entrance into the game was not something the Wildcats have done very often, only pulling the goalie once last year. “It’s a rare thing for us, but it’s good to know that we can handle it when it does happen,” Opsal said. That rarity was far from what the Wildcats experienced in overtime however, where Verona had a pair of goals waved off and each team failed to capitalize on a penalty shot. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen two goals waived off in overtime,” Wildcats head coach Joel Marshall said. “It seems like the last few years we’ve had some key goals waived off, especially in some Middleton games, at key times. “It is what it is, you get the bounces you create. Tonight didn’t really go our way as well as we had hoped.” The Wildcats found themselves in a rare position entering the third period, down a goal. That is until Parker popped a rebound off the shot of linemate Eddie Matsushima on the power play with just over four-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation. “I was just parked in front of the net,” Parker said. “Eddie took a shot and it popped out. The puck was just lying there ... I didn’t know it went in at first. It was so exciting.” Having not played a game in two weeks since throttling Waukesha 6-2 at the Howard G. Mullett tournament in Hartland, Marshall wasn’t exactly surprised that his team came out a little sluggish. “The guys didn’t come out ready to play physical, like it was in the first period,” Marshall said. “We battled back, obviously in the third period. A couple of goofy bounces went their way again, but to their credit they created those opportunities. “To come back and score three times in the last period of the game and to have two called off in overtime, our guys are definitely going to take it as a loss to put another chip on their shoulder.” Wildcat Michael Stevens had his apparent game-winning goal waved off early in overtime as it was ruled he deflected the puck with a high stick. Teammate Zach Jones later appeared to score the winner on a rebound with 50 seconds remaining, but instead Verona was awarded a penalty shot from an intentionally dislodged net. Jones failed to convert. Less than 30 seconds later the Cardinals were awarded a penalty of their own as Brandon Thayer was hauled down on a breakaway. “I’ve only had a penalty shot on me once,” Opsal said. “The two disallowed goals – it’s just crazy stuff.” Middleton senior forwards Adam Derosa and Brandon Thayer each had a goal and an assist. Thayer and junior forward Jack Krista scored back-to-back goals in the second to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Verona defenseman Cole Gastel gave the Wildcats the lead back briefly, stepping up on the rush and scoring from the left circle just over 9 minutes into the period. A goal from DeRosa from the high slot however pushed the Cardinals back ahead at 11:32. Despite a frenzied finish, sophomore forward Brogan Baker gave Verona an early lead with his wrister over the blocker of Middleton’s Max McConnell in the first period. McConnell finished with 28 saves out of 31 shots on goal. With Middleton’s (9-1-2) second tie of the season and with Sun Prairie (9-2-1) already having two losses, all the Wildcats (8-1-1) have to do to take the Big Eight title outright is take care of business against the bottom four teams in the conference over the next two weeks. “Tying is like kissing your sister. It’s not quite what we wanted, but I’ll take it over a loss,” Parker said. Verona could see the Cardinals, who expect to get the second seed, again in the WIAA postseason. “We’ll see how things play out,” Marshall said. “These guys are definitely excited for playoffs. We’re going to take these last couple of games as a trial run.” Verona 10, Madison Memorial 1 The Wildcats made-up their conference game against the Spartans (1-18-0, 0-11-0) on Monday, rolling 10-1 behind junior forward Zach Jones and senior forward Eddie Matsushima, who each totaled two goals and an assist. Opsal stopped five shots on goal for Verona, while Zach Osborn stopped 26 for the Spartans. Verona (18-1-1 overall, 9-1-1 conference) dropped to third place, behind Superior (10-7-1), on the WisconsinPrepHockey state poll last week. Green Bay Notre Dame (18-2) remained atop the list where the Tritons have been all season. The Wildcats conclude the regular and conference season with games against Madison West (6-5-1) on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. inside Madison Ice Arena) and Thursday, Feb. 9 inside the Janesville Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Bluebirds (4-5-1). |
![Sophomore forward Charlie Parker celebrates around a busy net following his third period power-play goal that knotted the score at 3-all against Middleton. Parker’s goal eventual helped the Wildcats force overtime inside Capitol Ice Arena where the team had two disallowed goals and missed on a penalty shot. [Photo by Jeremy Jones]](http://connectverona.com/SiteImages/Article/4214a.jpg)
