For those knowledgeable in the nuances of Wisconsin high school hockey--in particular the contest between #1 Notre Dame and #3 Verona--here is a multiple-choice quiz. Pick the best possible answer.
a) The game would go into run time
b) One team would switch goalies
c) One team would outshoot the other by a nearly 4:1 margin
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
The correct answer is (d).
Friday night's Wisconsin Prep Hockey Game of the Week battle between visiting Notre Dame and Verona at the Eagles Nest Ice Arena ended with a surprising 7-0 win for the Tritons.
Play began with Notre Dame getting good pressure early, outshooting the hosts 5-1 in the opening three minutes of play. It took just over seven minutes before a puck got behind a goalie, however.
As was their wont all evening, the Tritons scored from close-in on the first goal. Verona freshman goalie Alex Jones stopped the initial shot of Steven Phillips, but the Triton grabbed his own rebound and buried the puck high past the netminder to give NDA a 1-0 lead at the 7:07 mark.
After a Verona penalty with just over four minutes left, the Tritons went back to work. Will Pavek grabbed a rebound on the low right side and buried it for a power play goal at 13:48. Phillips and Jason Reynolds were given assists on the play.
Just when it looked like Verona would get out of the period two goals down, Brett Gruber banished that thought when he scored from the low slot area to make it 3-0 with just 18 seconds left in the stanza, and that's how the period would end. NDA held a 16-6 shot edge in the quick 17 minute period, which took about 23 minutes of 'real time.'
Notre Dame started where it left off, putting pressure on the Wildcats and tallying three goals in the middle period.
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Midway through a Triton power play, Sam McCormick banged home a rebound from the low left side, with helpers to Davison and Mason Appleton. The goal came at the 5:09 mark.
The 4-0 score held for most of the period, but then play got 'high-spirited' for a couple minutes near the end of the stanza.
Reynolds and Phillipe Fromberger got tangled up as they were battling near the goal and ended up on the ice in the net along with the Verona goalie. After some pushing and shoving, both skaters were sent to the box with matching minors.
Just over a minute later, Verona's Kenny Keyes ended up on top of Appleton and took a poke at the Triton, which resulted in the Wildcat player ending up in the box for roughing.
Near the end of the power play, a Triton goal was waved off because the net was off its pegs, but 15 seconds after that, Gruber made it count as he grabbed a nice pass at the back-door and sniped the biscuit between Jones' blocker and the left post at 15:52. Appleton and Tony Stillwell earned assists on the score.
And once more the dreaded 'last-minute' goal would haunt the Wildcats.
With less than a half-minute left, Riley Christensen skated with the puck from the right circle to the slot, shrugged off a Verona defender, found an opening and put the puck past Jones to extend Notre Dame's lead to 6-0. Will Woodward got an assist on the goal at the 16:38 mark.
Shots were 13-1 in the period.
Jon Fiala took over for Jones in net for Verona to start the third.
The period was fairly quiet and very quick as the clock stopped for two penalties and one goal. Verona killed off the penalty that they took late in the second and were successful in keeping NDA off the board while on the man-advantage twice more, but the Tritons would tally yet another goal with under a minute to play.
Gruber punched in a rebound from the low left side with 58 seconds left to complete his hattie and give Notre Dame a 7-0 win. Davison and McCormick were given assists on the play.
The visitors outshot the home team 8-3 in the period.
Eli Hicks had a relatively quiet game, but still turned aside 10 shots for his sixth shutout of the year for Notre Dame, tying him for the state lead in blankings.
Jones (23) and Fiala (7) combined for 30 saves for Verona.
Notre Dame (15-0) will host Eau Claire Memorial next Friday evening in Showdown in Titletown action at Cornerstone Community Center. Verona (15-2) gets a few hours rest and goes back at it in Big Eight play when they make the short trip to face Sun Prairie Saturday afternoon.
