Sam Storlie will probably be sore tomorrow morning.
The senior blueliner from Wisconsin Rapids looked like a pinball on the ice at the Meat Locker, aka the West Salem Ice Arena, Saturday afternoon.
He handed out punishment but was on the other end of it, too. He logged over 35 minutes of ice time and while he was at it, scored twice and added two assists.
The second goal was the game-winner in overtime as Rapids defeated West Salem 4-3.
As can be seen by the pictures, it was a physical game with bodies flying everywhere as the officials meted out a combined 24 minutes in penalties.
Senior Night began as the seven West Salem players were saluted before the game. That was the last time anybody stood still.
The home team put a pair of goals on the board in the first period to skate off with a 2-0 lead.
With just under five minutes left in the period, Richard Brown stole a Rapids outlet pass at the blue line and skated in on Rapids goalie Tanner Reany. He made a couple moves before flipping a backhander over the goalie's left shoulder for the 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, Bailey Martin took a pass in the high slot and fired a shot that Reany couldn't corral for the 2-0 lead. Ryan Beirne was credited with a helper on the play.
Martin was called for a head contact penalty as the period ended, with shots 8-7 in favor of the home team.
Storlie cut the lead to 2-1 moments after the Rapids power play expired.
He grabbed a loose puck in the NZ and took off down the left side. After a slick move with the puck to beat a defender, he snuck the biscuit between goalie Adam Helgeson's right pad and the post at the 2:48 mark for the unassisted goal.
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Rapids would capitalize on a power play chance in the middle of the period to tie the game.
Storlie walked in from the left point and lasered a shot that Helgeson stopped but lost track of. Logan Conkey found it and tapped it in to knot the contest at two. Jacob Morman earned an assist on the score.
Rapids had three straight man-advantage opportunities, but the Panthers rose to the task and held fast, not allowing any additional scores.
West Salem knocked the puck in the net on a power play of their own with less than a minute left to grab the lead.
Jack Gorniak took a pass on the left side and skated in, sending a bullet that ended up in the upper right corner, giving the home boys a 3-2 lead as the clock showed 33 seconds left. Martin and Joseph Oldendorf earned helpers on the play.
Each team had eight shots on goal in the middle period.
Both squads had numerous scoring chances in the third, but only one team was able to convert.
Thirty seconds into the period, West Salem's Zach Pierce steamed down the left side and ripped a shot past Reany that pinged off the right post, much to the dismay of the home crowd.
A couple minutes later, Isaac Gilbert skated in on Helgeson and launched a shot, but the West Salem goalie grabbed the puck with his glove hand to end the scoring threat.
Rapids had a 3-on-2 rush that was foiled by the goalie in the middle of the stanza, but would break through with just under five minutes left to tie the contest.
A shot was stopped by the Panthers goalie, but Rapids' Erik Prochnow joined the scrum in front of the net and punched in the loose puck to even the game at three. Storlie and Tyler Blaes assisted on the score.
Gilbert had a chance for the go-ahead goal with two minutes left, but his shot was just wide left.
The Red Raiders had 10 shots in the period, compared to five for West Salem.
Rapids had another great chance two minutes into the extra period, but Helgeson made a great sliding stop of a backdoor shot by Jared Sawyer.
Then Rapids went one man down on a tripping penalty with 4:59 left but that was negated when Pierce ran over the Rapids goalie and was called for charging.
Reany was flat on his back for a couple minutes, but after being checked over by the athletic trainer and Rapids coach Pat McDonald, stayed in the game.
Five seconds after the face-off in the Panthers d-zone, the game was over.
Conkey won the draw, tipping the puck back to Storlie at the right point. His shot through heavy traffic evaded Helgeson for the game-winner as Rapids began its celebration, on and off the ice.
West Salem outshot Rapids 3-2 in the overtime.
In the game, Reany stopped 21 shots for Rapids, while Helgeson made 23 saves.
The game had seeding implications for both teams, as they both are challenging for Sectional Four supremacy. Coupled with Onalaska's win over DC Everest today, it appears Ona will take the number one spot, followed closely by Rapids (15-7) and West Salem, who drops to 19-3.
