The seventh-seeded Fond du Lac hockey team used three special-team goals to upset second-seeded University School 4-1 in a state tournament Sectional 8 Regional Final game at USM Friday night.

Fondy was on fire throughout the night.  “They played like they wanted it more,” lamented USM coach Cal Roadhouse after the game.

The Cardinals first goal came while they were killing a penalty.  They iced the puck on a clear from the Fond du Lac zone.  Freshman Jack Nejedlo raced down the ice after it. Along the right boards he intercepted a pass that USM’s sophomore goalkeeper Bryan Botcher was trying to send back up ice.  Nejedlo immediately threw the puck at the net.  It hit the foot of a USM defender and careened into the open goal at 7:01 of the first period.

USM tied it up late in the first period.  Forechecking aggressively, senior Corey Roadhouse forced a Fond du Lac defender to bobble the puck in the Fond du Lac left circle.  It bounced to USM senior Kenny Servis who pulled it into the slot and rifled a shot at the Cardinals’ junior goalie Charles Blagoue.  The rebound hopped to the right.  USM senior Ashton Wackym, who was rushing to the net, smashed it in at 15:37.

The Cardinals used two second-period power play goals to take the lead and secure their victory.  “Penalties have hurt us all year,” said Roadhouse, “and they doomed us tonight.”

The first of Fond du Lac’s power play goals came at 13:51 while the Cardinals were moving the puck around the USM zone.  Senior Keegan Acheson pushed the puck behind the net to junior Ty Rebedew.  Rebedew swung out and jammed in a wrap-around goal.

USM took another penalty as Fondy was scoring the goal.  As a consequence, the Cardinals continued their power play work.   It paid off at 15:58.  Once again Acheson and Rebedew combined to create the goal.  Skating out of the Fond du Lac zone, Acheson raced down the right boards and into USM’s zone.  He sent a cross-ice pass right onto Rebedew’s stick as Rebedew out-raced a backchecker to the USM net.  Rebedew snapped a one-timer into the net to make it 3-1.

The Wildcats put up a valiant effort to get back into the game in the final period, outshooting the Cardinals 7-2.  But their efforts were for naught.  Fond du Lac scored an empty net goal to finalize its victory.  Junior Rex Whealon fired the puck from the Fond du Lac end into the empty USM net with five seconds left.  Rebedew was given an assist on the play.

In the game, Blagoue made 21 saves and Botcher made 22 saves.

The victory gave Fond du Lac a 12-13 record and propelled them into a Sectional semi-final firecracker game against Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs on Tuesday.  It was another winning season for coach Cal Roadhosue and his USM coaching staff, but the loss ended it early. The Wildcats’ final 2011-2012 record is 14-10-1.