The Wausau East/Merrill BlueJacks stunned the Marshfield Tigers with a handful of third period goals in a 6-2 comeback win at the Marshfield Ice Arena on Tuesday. In a span of 1:52, early in the third period, the BlueJacks turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead and an eventual 6-3 victory. Junior Jackson Pierce led the way with a hat trick for EMU.
There was a big crowd on hand as the two Wisconsin Valley opponents took to the ice. The BlueJacks were trending upward having won two of their last three and the Tigers sliding the other direction losing four of their last five. Marshfield bottled up EMU early as the BlueJacks struggled to exit their defensive zone cleanly. Both teams flexed their muscle tossing body checks with near reckless abandon. Shots were at a premium and half -way through the period they were 2-2. The period ended scoreless.
It was some missed chances by both teams. “I thought we had some good opportunities in the first and second period and we didn't capitalize,” said Tiger’s head coach Matt Immerfall. “Just not handling pucks or getting shots on net and their goalie made some good saves as well throughout the game.”
A wet surface hampered the play early in period two as the Tigers generated a couple of quality scoring chances. Marshfield struck first when a weak side rim from a defensive zone face-off sent Jack Mattila off on a foot race with the EMU defenseman. Mattila flew down the left-wing and triggered a hard low shot that beat goalie Tony Strickland through the five-hole for a 1-0 Tiger’s lead.
Special teams came into play late in the period as both teams went on the powerplay. EMU tied it on a goal by Jackson Pierce after Connor Zdroik made a nice play to keep the puck in at the Tiger’s blueline. Marshfield answered with their own powerplay goal by Cashton Anderson. With Alex Petrowski, who was a physical presence all night for EMU, in the box for tripping, Anderson batted home a rebound to put Marshfield back on top 2-1. Wyatt Fischer, earned an assist, his 11th of the season to go with 18 goals. Only a sophomore, Fischer was a handful defensively all night long for the BlueJacks.
East/Merrill’s third period ambush began at 3:54 with the Tigers on a powerplay. Jackson Pierce, a name you should consider when the All-State voting begins, slipped into the neutral zone and Collin Genrich got his clearing attempt past the Tiger’s defenseman sending Pierce in on goalie Neil Mullins. Pierce uncorked a slapshot just inside the left-circle and beat Mullins over the glove to tie the game with his 16th goal of the year. Fifty-five seconds later Connor Zdroik would set up another goal by finding Erik Grunenwald driving the net off the rush. Mullins made the initial save, but Grunenwald stayed on the puck and pounded it home for a 3-2 EMU lead.
The turning point in the game came moments later when Marshfield sent a puck toward the BlueJacks net that went wide but caromed off the end boards and back in front of the net. The loose puck found Cash Fry wide open on the weak side, but Strickland slid across and made a spectacular glove save to prevent the Tigers from tying the game. Pierce helped deliver the ice pick, hockey’s version of the “dagger” when he snatched a loose puck inside the EMU zone and took off with linemate Erik Grunenwald on a 2 on 2 rush. The Merrill junior cut to the middle at the top of the circles and fired but Mullins made the initial save. Grunenwald went hard to the net and buried the rebound. Three goals in 1:52 put EMU up 5-2 and left the Tigers in shock.
“They took advantage of some big turnovers and mental lapses on our part there in the third period,” acknowledged Immerfall.
Cashton Anderson wired a high shot from the blueline past Strickland to give the Tigers a spark at 11:02, pulling them to within two goals at 5-3. With 55 seconds remaining, Pierce, like he was hitting a wedge to the green, floated a puck from the hash marks into the empty net for a 6-3 final score. It was East/Merrill’s first conference win of the season.
“It was a very nice comeback win against a conference opponent,” said EMU first-year head coach Brian Bednrczyk. “I think they are starting to believe in each other and are realizing how important it is to play as a team. I can see a lot of the things we practice starting to pay off in games, which is great. It was nice to see their hard work paying off with a win.”
Strickland started his fifth straight for the BlueJacks and appears to have won over the starting role. He finished with 23 saves to earn the win. The Merrill senior is playing goalie full-time for the first time in his high school career. “Tony has been playing great and giving us a chance to win,” added Bednarczyk.
Mullins stopped 23 shots for the Tigers.
Immerfall was candid as he assessed his team’s play. “I think we got away from who we are and the style of hockey we need to play, and that has been a struggle for us throughout the season. Consistently doing the little things we talk about that we need to do to be successful. The Tiger alumni in his second stint as head coach continues, “It's on me to make sure we are better prepared and get this thing moving in the right direction. We have a good group of kids and I'm confident we can learn from this, get better and move forward.”
It was sad for me to see the BlueJacks roster with only eleven Wausau East players. The hockey dynamics in Wausau have depleted the former stand-alone East program dramatically. I won’t wade into that toxic pool, but my hope is that Coach Bednarczyk can jump-start the program and close the widening gap that exists. It happened in Eau Claire years ago, when North seemed destined for extinction, but is now all the way back. Here is hoping It can happen in Wausau.
Both teams will enter another universe on Thursday when EMU welcomes the 2nd ranked SPASH Panthers (12-2) to Marathon Park and Marshfield hosts 3rd ranked Wausau West (15-1).
Three Stars of the Game: 1-Pierce, 2-Strickland, 3-C.Zdroik
Blue Collar: M-Widmann, EMU-Petrowski
