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Wildcats blank Monona Grove

By Tom Geilfuss, USM Asst. Coach, 01/09/16, 3:45PM CST

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USM holds 56-22 shot edge in contest

The University School boys’ hockey team defeated Monona Grove 4-0 in a non-conference game on Friday at Hartmeyer Ice Arena in Madison.

Junior Nick Epperson led the Wildcats by scoring 3 goals, all in the second period. Junior Logan Geisness added a goal in the final seconds of the third period as USM outshot the Silver Eagles 56-22 in a game that USM dominated from the start.  Senior goaltender Mac Schmidt recorded the shutout for the Wildcats.

“Tonight’s game was a steady if not spectacular win for us,” said Jason Woods, USM’s head coach. “Taking 56 shots on goal is fantastic. Even better, we played good enough defensively to pitch the shutout.  I credit Mac and our defensive group for not losing focus and staying defensively strong.  We can be happy; still, we need to be ready for a battle with Edgewood tomorrow.  It should be a great game.”

The Wildcats put 16 of their shots on Monona Grove’s goalie Andryi Nahirniak during the first period, but it was not until midway through the second period that they were finally able to put one past him.

Epperson won the battle for the puck in the left circle of the Silver Eagles’ zone.  He skated to the boards, turned and sent a cross-ice pass to senior defenseman Jersey Judge at the point.  Judge rocketed a shot at Nahirniak’s pads.  The rebound came out to Epperson who one-timed a shot into the net at 8:35.

The Wildcats made it 2-0 late in the second period. During a face off, Epperson skated into the Monona Grove left circle. Epperson pulled the puck away from the contending centers, who were jousting after the puck drop.  Epperson took two more steps then blasted a shot past Nahirniak at 14:08. Logan Geisness received an assist on the play.

Epperson completed his hat trick just over a minute later.  On a breakout from the USM zone, Levi Geisness sent a pass to his brother Logan, who skated into the Monona Grove end and fired a shot on net from the right circle.  He raced to the rebound and took another shot.  The puck rebounded to the left to Epperson who gunned a shot into a wide-open net at 15:41.

Logan Geisness scored USM’s final goal at 16:56 of the third period when he collected the puck in the right corner of the Monona Grove zone, zoomed behind the net and swung out on the far side to bury a shot for an unassisted wraparound goal.

As a result of the game, USM’s record is 9-2-2 while Monona Grove is now 6-7.  The Wildcats return to Milwaukee to play Madison Edgewood in a non-conference game at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 9th at USM.

WiPH Game Summaries