There have been some outstanding overtime battles going on this season. None more exciting than the one between USM and an up-and-coming Muskego team. Last second heroics and a bit of trickery lifted the Wildcats to an emotional win. In Tomah, DC Everest Evergreens goaltender Zach May helped execute an overtime win with a long pass to set up the game winning goal. And lastly, how about a pure third period hat trick in the games final five minutes to erase a 4-1 deficit and send your team on to an overtime win. Check out all these thrillers below.

Circle of Character

This is the stuff that makes high school athletics so important and so beneficial. It honestly isn’t how many banners you hang but how much character you absorb and develop. Last Thursday in a game between River Falls and Rice Lake, Warrior’s freshman Brenden Woods went hard into the boards, as the result of check and was knocked unconscious. He was removed by medical staff on a backboard and taken to the local hospital. Brenden sustained a concussion, “He was literally out cold for over thirty minutes,” according to his father Brian, but is back home and on the road to recovery.

As Brenden was being transported off the ice, River Falls captain Jaxon Flanagan gathered both teams at center ice, arms locked together, to pray for Brenden. It was spontaneous and unanimous display of respect, concern and character. I imagine that response elicited a few tears from the on-looking fans. It was one of the moments in athletics when you truly understand what this experience is all about. “I have nothing but respect for Jaxson and the way that he stood up in that moment, not only as a person but as a captain of our team,” said his head coach Tim Berres. “It really just showed his character and his class in that moment. Showing respect for the opponent and just trying to bring everybody together. It speaks volumes about him as a person and as a player.”

Warriors head coach Josh Engel simply said, “Great character kid.”  

Following the game, Brenden’s family reached out to Wildcat captain Chase Rudolph who had delivered the check. Brenden’s father Brian said about the hit, “It wasn’t dirty or malicious at all. We didn’t want him to feel bad for playing hard.” Rudolph was obviously shaken by what happened and of course throughout the remainder of the game none of the players knew how Brenden was. Berres sat down with Rudolph after the game. “I mean, he took it hard,” he said. The conversation that I had with him was that this is one of those unfortunate things that happens in the game. He had an opportunity to speak with the family, and I think that helped a lot.”  

There were a lot of exciting games last week and some terrific individual performances, but my Player of the Week goes to Jaxon Flanagan, with a supporting cast of the Rice Lake and River Falls teams, locked arm-and-arm with him. Scoring goals and stopping them isn’t a lifetime skill, but displays of character like Jaxon and his thirty-six brothers exhibited are forever invaluable. Well done boys.

May the Ice Force be with You

If you are looking for a D1 team to keep your eye on it just might be the Muskego Ice Force. At 8-5 they have been dominating in their wins out scoring their opponents 57-13. Their losses include Sun Prairie, who they have also beaten, an overtime loss to USM and very competitive games with Verona 5-3 and Neenah 4-1. They have a huge three game week ahead as they meet Waukesha (8-7), Brookfield (9-5) and Kenosha (8-6).

Muskego, if you don’t know, is located in the southwest Milwaukee area and is a city of about 25,000. The boys’ Ice Force is one of the state’s largest co-op teams with fifteen schools participating. “The program has really developed in the last four years,” according to head coach Joe Britt. “Most players do not go to the same school and that has its own challenges. Some players travel forty-five minutes to the rink from school.” Like many of the programs in the greater Milwaukee area ice time is getting increasingly more difficult to find. While the team calls Wilson Park their home, Britt admits, “Ice time is hard to get, and we get pushed around to multiple rinks.”

Joe Britt is entering his fifth season as head coach. When Britt took over the program in 2021, they had never had a winning season. Britt led the team to a 16-8 record the first year and has compiled a 62-44-1 record to date. Britt says, “It is a testament to the hard work these players have put in.”

The team opened their season 3-3, but has won five of their last seven. “The guys have been working hard all season including the off season,” said Britt. “They really play for each other and leave it all on the ice. We hit a few bumps along the way with some adversity early in the season, but the guys have accepted it as a learning opportunity by taking ownership of their mistakes.”

On the ice they are led by their top line of Seniors Andrew Kunz (13G – 26A), Ben Brown (13G – 20A), and Junior Rogan Dewane (15G – 11A). “Those three seem to naturally always find each other on the ice,” Britt said. “Our defense is young but have developed and matured as the season has gone on and Rylan Venne' (2.90 GAA – 89.3S%) has really found a new comfort level in net and has been solid for us.”

I asked Britt if the team had a secret to their second period success where they have out scored their opponents 30-7? He replied, “No secret sauce over here. I think our depth in our third and fourth lines have provided us with the ability to wear down the teams and put the pressure on them.”

Last Tuesday the Ice Force nearly had that signature win that every team craves. They went to overtime with USM but fell short, losing 2-1. “The OT Loss was tough as we felt very evenly matched against University School and just didn't get the bounce that we needed,” lamented Britt. “We were able to kill off nine minutes of penalties in the third and we were very proud of the guys for that. It truly is a blast working with this group. We tell the guys, every day we get on the ice we expect to get 1% better.”

Top Six Games

River Falls 7  New Richmond 5: The relentless Wildcats clawed their way back from 2-0, 3-1, 4-2 and 5-4 deficits to an exciting 7-5 win over New Richmond. With the Tigers leading 5-4 in the third period, River Falls scored three unanswered goals by Jaxon Flanagan, Nolan Hoepfi and Chase Rudolph for a come-from-behind victory. It was the Wildcats fourth straight win, while the Tigers dropped to 4-7.

Waunakee 1  Madison West 0 (OT): It took 49 shots, before the Warriors finally solved Regents goaltender Benji Osmond. Max Rucker found the back of the net at 3:38 of overtime to wrestle a victory away from Madison West. Waunakee got back on the winning track after a tie and two losses in their last three games. West fell to 3-8-1.

Fondy Springs 5  Waupun 1: Fond du Lac dismantled the Warriors outshooting them 43-9 in a 5-1 win at the Blue Line Family Ice Center. The Ledgers got goals from Teigue Wagner, Barron Bolka, Heath Braun, Logan Blankenheim and Jaxson Sabel. Springs is now 7-3-2.

Baldwin/Woodville 5  RAM 3: Two Hawks goals by Drew Buhr and Brody Everts in the final 1:44 of the second period broke a 1-1 tie and gave B/W a 3-1 lead. After a RAM goal by Tanner Robinson closed the gap to 3-2, Everts and Dawson Veenendaal answered for the Hawks pushing the lead to 5-2.

USM 2  Muskego 1: What a wild finish to this section four battle. Muskego’s Andrew Kunz and USM’s Davie Moalusi traded first period goals and that 1-1 score held up into overtime. USM finished with a 45-33 shots advantage, but it was goaltender Beckett Newman that came up big for the Wildcats in overtime. Muskego nearly ended the game at 4:15 of overtime with a 2 on 1 rush and subsequent rebound that USM goalie Beckett Newman kept out of the net. Then with the clock under a minute Newman stoned Rogan Dewane from the bottom of the left circle.

As the last Muskego rush entered the USM defensive zone, head coach Corbin McGuire had held one player on the bench as two changed behind the rush. When the Wildcats scooped up the rebound McGuire sent Everett Waltersdorf on to the ice where Tyler Cook laid a perfect pass on his stick and he was off on a game winning breakaway firing home his 12th goal of the season.

Wausau West 8  Middleton 0: The Warriors scored five powerplay goals in a 8-0 rout of the Cardinals at Marathon Park. Seven different Warriors scored as Middleton goalie Caiden Fletcher was bombarded with 54 shots.

Neenah/HM 8  Appleton United 1: Neenah scored six consecutive goals to turn a 2-1 lead into a 8-1 runaway victory over Appleton United. Mark Sutton, Cartyr Simonson and Preston Liedke each scored twice for Neenah. Brady Boldt stood strong in the United net with 56 saves.

Brookfield 2  USM 1: Stars goalie Brady Ferrell was near perfect, shutting down the Wildcats with 39 saves as Brookfield edged USM 2-1 at Uihlein Ice Arena. The Stars used goals by Archer Hillig and Brody McKay to build a 2-0 lead. Henry Bechthold scored late for USM as the Wildcats dropped to 8-4 with 2nd ranked Neenah looming next.

Somerset 4  Baldwin/Woodville 2: Somerset used a pair of powerplays to propel them past Baldwin/Woodville 4-2. Brock Thiel scored twice for the Spartans and Marshall Haukom hit the empty net to seal the win. Landon Veenendahl had 32 saves for the Hawks. Somerset moved their season record to 5-7, the Hawks dropped to 10-3.

Fondy Springs 1  Bay Area 0: Heath Braun scored the games only goal on the powerplay to propel the Ledgers to a 1-0 win over Bay Area. In the nets Justin Pintar registered 34 saves for Bay Area and Memphis Young 32 for Springs.

EC North 2  EC Memorial 1: It was classic cross-town battle between North and Memorial at Hobbs Ice Arena. Kolin Leazott put the Huskies on the board with a powerplay goal at 9:55 of the first period. The Old Abes tied it on a goal by Luke Schemberger who converted a beautiful 2 on 1 pass from Mason Flannery in period two. The game winner in the third period. Huskies sophomore Ty Haats held a puck in at the Old Abes blue line and sent it below the goal line, Haats followed to the net where he pounced on a loose rebound and delivered the winning goal. It was his fifth goal this year. Goalies Landon Ivey for North and Connor Hebert for Memorial both finished with 32 saves.

Northland Pines 5  Lakeland 0: Cooper Saari led the Eagles with two goals as Pines dominated the Thunderbirds, outshooting them 49-11, in a 5-0 shutout win. Saari has 14 goals on the year. Pines goalie Evrett Leslie earned his fifth shutout and lowered his GAA to 1.67.

Waunakee 6  Middleton 1: Waunakee and Middleton were tied 1-1 after two periods despite the Warriors 27-18 advantage in shots. Waunakee erupted with five unanswered goals in the final frame to win going away 6-1. Brock Robbins led the way with a hat trick in the period when the Warriors were ironically outshot 14-10. Waunakee goaltender Weston Meyers was perfect in the final period and finished with 31 saves, the same as his counterpart Caiden Fletcher. Waunakee is 7-3-1.

Hudson 4  New Richmond 1: The Raiders crafted a 4-0 lead outshooting the Tigers 43-19. New Richmond’s Chase Huber scored with 15 seconds remaining to spoil Hudson’s Taylor Smiths shutout bid.

Brookfield 2  Arrowhead 1: Brookfield’s Filip Zizka scored his 8th and 9th goals of the season, including the third period game winner as the Stars nipped the Warhawks 2-1 in a Classic Eight Conference clash. The Star’s Brady Ferrell won the goalie battle making 32 saves, while Jack Adair turned away 34 shots.

Edgewood 8  McFarland 1: The Crusaders flexed their D1 muscles, as Owen Porter scored four times, leading Edgewood to a dominating 8-1 win. Boden Wagner broke up Edgewood’s Brady McGuire’s shutout bid with seven seconds remaining in period two. Edgewood moved to 11-1 with their fifth win in a row.

De Pere 8  Fondy Springs 4: The Ledgers battled back from a 4-1 deficit, cutting the margin to 4-3 in the second period before the Voyageurs rattled off four straight goals. De Pere got two goals each from Landon Smith and Max Greenya and a four-point night from Leo Dose (1G – 3A). Springs captain Tate Baker contributed a hat trick and has 11 goals on the season. De Pere won their fifth straight improving to 11-3-1. Fondy sits at 7-4-2.

Wausau West 11  Notre Dame 2: West ambushed the Tritons taking a 5-0 lead and never looking back. Owen Pergolski and Cooper DePuydt combined for seven goals and Chase Crass and Shea Jones each handed out five assists. West is 15-1 and the Tritons are struggling with an uncharacteristic 8-6 record.

USM 3  Neenah 1: USM smothered the high-power Rockets, holding them to 13 shots on goal enroute to a 3-1 win on the road. Tyler Cook netted a pair of goals, including a shorthander, to lead the Wildcats to the win over the 2nd ranked Rockets. USM Sealed the win with an empty-net goal with ten seconds remaining. Neenah coming into the game was 6th in the state scoring averaging 6.07 goals a game.

Around the State

Black River Falls 5  West Salem 4 (OT): With 7:29 left in the game, West Salem’s Kayden Tauscher gave the Panthers a 4-1 lead. You could almost hear the fat lady warming up, but when you have 33 goal scorer Calvin Lakowske on your team it isn’t over till, well in this case over—time. Lakowske began his personal comeback at 11:42. He encountered a loose puck near the left circle, cut sharply to the middle and then effortlessly released a wrist shot into the top corner to trim the lead to 4-2. At 13:36, with the Tigers on a powerplay, Lakowske darted through the Panthers from the neutral zone, down the right wing and released a laser into the same top corner and it was 4-3. Following a time out and a blocked shot in their own end, Ryan Kasper batted a puck to Lakowske near the red line and the senior streaked down the right-wing, cut across the middle to his backhand and stuck the game tying puck in the same corner. It was his fourth goal of the game, and 150th of his career.

Two minutes and thirty seconds into overtime, Tristan Bible snapped a rebound past Panther’s goaltender Noah Johnsrude, and the Tigers had an improbable victory. As Bible raised his stick in elation, Lakowske was the first player off the bench to jump into the on ice celebration.

DC Everest 5  Tomah/Sparta 4 (OT): Sparta built a 3-0 lead on goals by Ashton Rousch, Cameron Gluch and Ryan Gilbertson late into the second period. The Evergreens were facing a tall task as the period was ending. Caden Allen pumped life into his team with a goal at 16:33 and DCE came to life. Trailing 4-2 late in the third, Gabe Simonsen’s shot through traffic with an extra attacker on pulled DCE to within one goal with 1:05 to play. Cole Van Slyke banged in an Aiden Haupt rebound with 12 seconds left to tie it and send it to overtime. “I cannot remember a time where we pulled our goaltender twice and scored on both opportunities,” said head coach Dan Van Slyke. “Hopefully this springs us a bit through the second half of the season.”

In OT, Tomah cleared a puck to get a line change, but Evergreen’s goalie Zach May, making just his third start of the year, came out to play the puck and sent a pass to Hayden Johnson at the Tomah blue line. Johnson stepped in the zone and handed Caden Allen a pass between the dots where he laced the game winner past Tomah goalie Jesse James Peterson.

The game is one Zach May may never forget. May is one of those unsung heroes that many teams employ, the back-up goaltender. For May it is sitting behind 1st Team All-State goalie Griffen Bunnell, (2.41 GAA – 92.6S%). “Our goaltenders enjoy playing the puck,” Van Slyke admitted, “but pretty neat for Zach to pick up the win and have a game deciding play from his position.”

Monona Grove 4  Janesville 3: Ryder Bible completed his hat trick with 29 seconds to play lifting the Silver Eagles to a 4-3 decision over Janesville. Kaleb Erickson’s 36 saves weren’t quite enough for the Bluebirds who lost their fourth straight. Monona Grove advanced their record to 8-3-1.

Amery 8  Northwest Icemen 1: Amery cruised to an 8-1 defeat of the Northwest Icemen behind 13 points combined from Logan Doten (3G – 4A) and Jacob Maxon (3G – 3A). Braydon Roberts scored the lone goal for the Icemen. The Warriors won their third straight and are 8-5 on the year.

Tomahawk 4  Mosinee 3: Jonah Dickens and Jett Reilly each scored a shorthanded, third period goal, to turn a 3-2 Mosinee lead into a 4-3 Hatchets victory. The Indians Spencer Lemke netted his second goal of the game at 1:16 of the final frame to push the Indians ahead, but Dickens answered at 2:33 and Reilly at 5:35. Charlie Michalski had 32 saves for Mosinee.

Amery 5  Tomah/Sparta 2: Saturday night in Amery the Warriors notched their fifth win in a row defeating Tomah/Sparta 5-2. History was made in the third period when Elliot Greene assisted on a goal by Logan Doten making him the highest scoring defenseman in Warrior’s history with 95 points. It was Greene’s third assist of the game, and he also scored the game’s first goal. Greene surpassed his former defensive partner William Jensen. Elliot’s older brother Vinny is Amery’s all-time leading scorer with 206 points.