Although Wausau West battled till the end, the Notre Dame Academy Tritons triumphed to win the Red Flint Rock and Stone Meltdown tournament in Eau Claire last Saturday.

Both teams played a physical and aggressive game right from the start, but limited shots on net and stellar goaltending by Wausau West’s Sam Wiegert and Notre Dame Academy’s Aaron Campbell left the first period scoreless.

NDA struck first with a goal seven minutes and 48 seconds into the second period. Anton Brix scored from right in front of the net off of a pass from Tony Stillwell. Jack Wied also notched an assist on the goal.

Shortly after, Wausau West’s Justin Anderson was sent to the box on a hooking call at 9:58 into the period.

Brett Gruber capitalized on the powerplay opportunity, and NDA struck again, this time 10:28 into the period. Mason Appleton and Anton Brix had the helpers on the goal, a goal that changed the pace and intensity of the game in the Tritons’ favor.

Another Wausau West penalty, this time on Cale Bowman for slashing, allowed NDA another two minutes with a man advantage. Less than two minutes after the previous goal, NDA found the net again. This time, after a flurry of shots, Collin Appleton extended the lead to 3-0 with his goal, assisted by Gruber and Sam McCormick.

Penalties advanced NDA’s lead, but a Wausau West goal by Zach Peterson made things interesting coming into the third period.

Six minutes and 11 seconds into the final period of play, the Warriors scored their second goal of the night, which closed NDA’s lead to just one goal. Bowman was able to sneak the puck past several Triton defensemen stationed in front of the net for his unassisted goal.

A penalty on Warrior Kevin Conley for cross-checking put Wausau down a man, and McCormick answered. He scored his powerplay goal with assists from Gruber and Stillwell and advanced their lead to what would be the final score:  4-2.

Three more penalties were assessed to Wausau West, but Wiegert stood firm, not allowing any other goal to get past him with the 31 shots he faced in the game.

Kevin Conley, Adam Parsells and Drew Pearson put forth exemplary effort in the last few minutes in an attempt to close the lead, but they were unable to get past Campbell, who controlled the puck very well in his first game back off of an ACL injury.

SLIDESHOW PHOTO BY TIM PAVEK