A three-goal second period outburst lifted the Wausau West Warriors to a 4-3 win over Appleton United in their quarterfinal matchup at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday night.

What was billed as a matchup of two low-scoring strong defensive teams lived up to the predictions in the first and third periods. But the second period strayed way off script.

Wausau started the game with the puck in the Appleton zone for the first 45 seconds. Then United came up the ice with numbers. Connor Zilisch skated in on the left side looking toward the center for a passing opportunity. Instead he fired a shot from the bottom of the circle that beat Warrior goalie Paul Weise and put United on the board.

United held that lead for most of the first period. Late in the frame, while on the power play, Wausau pushed the puck to the front of the net where Jacob Evens, Nick Techel and Sam Radenz hammered away at it, with Techel eventually putting it behind United goalie Dylan Phinney.

In the closing minutes of the first Nick Techel skated in close to the United net and fired a shot off the crossbar. The rebound came to Appleton and they skated it out and quickly got behind the West defense, drawing a hooking call.

That penalty carried over to the second period, so Appleton opened on a power play and passed the puck around got it to Kieren Brosnan in the right circle. Brosnan picked a corner and drilled in the puck into the net.

Two minutes later, West came right back with a goal of their own to tie it up again. Andrew Lee scored from in close, assisted by Cale Bowman and Christian Bardarson. Followed quickly by a goal from Bardarson, and quickly again by a Sam Radenz goal. Three goals in three minutes turned a one-goal deficit into a 4-2 lead for Wausau West.

Before the period was over, Appleton closed the gap to 4-3 with a wrap-around goal by Nathan Zilisch.

Wausau out-shot Appleton 25-13 through the first two periods.

Warriors coach BJ Brandt learned how to hold a lead from Pete Susens, and hold it they did. Phinney and Weise took over the third period, trading great saves and snuffing out scoring opportunities.

Wausau West advances to play Madison Memorial on Friday night.