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Lucky 13! Superior blanks West for state title

By Michael Trzinski, WiPH Staff, 03/08/15, 12:45PM CDT

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Pair of early goals ignite Spartans in championship


The Superior Spartans scored twice in the first six minutes of play and rode that momentum to earn their 13th state title with a 6-0 victory over Wausau West Saturday afternoon at the Clamshell.

Troy Shold got the Spartans on the board less than three minutes into the contest.

Caden Tchop passed the puck across to the right side on a 2-on-1 break, and Shold buried his shot past the glove of West goalie Paul Weise for the 1-0 lead.

Moments later a nice connection increased the lead to 2-0.

Grant Hanson dropped a pass for Beau Reder, who fired a shot from the top of the right circle past the goalie for the two-goal lead.

The period ended with Superior holding an 8-6 shot edge.

Most of second period was scoreless, but the Spartans connected three times in a span of five minutes late in the period to take a commanding lead.

First, Tyler Nystrom found a loose puck in the mid-slot and beat the goalie on the blocker side for the 3-0 lead, with Reder and Daniel Burger getting assists on the play.

Thirty-two seconds later, Shold led a rush down the right side and sent a shot from the middle of the right circle that flew past a screened netminder for the four-goal lead. Mark Shold and Braden LaPorte earned helpers on the play.

Tchop bumped the lead to 5-0 with a minute and a half left in the period, with assists to Mark Shold and Jesse Polson.

Shots were 8-5 in the period, Superior.

The third period was scoreless until three minutes left when Troy Shold earned his hattie when he took a pass from Reder, skated down the middle and beat Jacob Warnke, who had come in with five minutes remaining.

Superior held a slight 9-8 shot edge in the stanza.

Peyton Flanders earned his second shutout of the tournament with his 19-save performance for Superior.

Weise stopped 19 shots for West.

Superior became the first team in WIAA recorded history (since 2000) to win a state title with a losing record (14-15-1). Wausau West finished Coach B.J. Brandt's first season with a mark of 22-5-3.

WiPH Game Summaries