Red Rangers Offense Strikes Early and Often to Down Blackhawks

By Ben Pierce, Coulee Region Sports Net, 02/17/16, 10:30AM CST

The LaCrosse Red Rangers and the Viroqua Blackhawks met in a Section 4 playoff battle on Tuesday, February 17.

The game would start with back and forth chances for each team, and a huge hit by La Crosse senior Ronnie Bryant just 50 seconds in. The first big offensive chance came from the Blackhawks, but La Crosse goaltender Willem Alvarado stood tall, sprawling to save a rebound that had been cleared to a Viroqua stick in the crease. Just a minute later it was Viroqua tendy Carter Bergdahl sprawling to make a big toe save on a La Crosse backdoor pass.

The first goal of the game came at 11:43 of the first period, as La Crosse forward Ben Zieglbein took a breakout pass from Will Bryant and took it end to end before tucking in a nice backhand shot past Bergdahl. Less than a minute later the Red Rangers struck again, this time Cole Losen scoring a goal on another Will Bryant breakout pass to make it 2-0 La Crosse. Just a minute later at 13:57, Bergdahl thought he had a deflected point shot under his glove, but it snuck behind him and La Crosse forward Drew Kjos buried the loose puck into the net. Moments later at 14:22, the Blackhawks would get on the board thanks to forward Nathan Turnipseed. Turnipseed entered the zone protecting the puck and unleashed a ripping wrister that hit the crossbar before ending up in the net past Alvarado. With just 0.1 seconds left on the clock, Kjos would score his second of the period after a Cole Losen takeaway to make it 4-1 La Crosse at the end of 1. Shots were 20-9 in favor of La Crosse.

Only one goal would be scored in the second period, this one from La Crosse forward Will Bryant. The play started with a board pass from Cole Losen, who dished it to Ben Richmond at the blue line. Richmond sent his pass to Bryant in front, and Bryant’s shot slipped through the legs of Bergdahl.

In the third, La Crosse would again score goals in a flurry, as they tallied 3 in just over a minute. It began at 7:18 of the period, when Ben Zieglbein buried a tap-in pass from Cole Losen. Drew Kjos also had an assist on the play. Then 8 seconds later at 7:26, Drew Kjos finished off the hat-trick off of a nice backdoor pass from Losen. “It’s pretty cool,” said Kjos. “I’ve never had a hat-trick in high school hockey, so it feels pretty awesome.”

A minute later at 8:52, Viroqua defenseman Dalton Hoffland went to take a shot at the blueline, but his stick broke. La Crosse defenseman Max Hengel scooped up the loose puck and waited patiently for Bergdahl to move before burying a low wrister to make it 8-2 La Crosse. Hoffland would add a goal at 14:56 to put the Blackhawks back on the board before Will Bryant scored to make it a 9-2 final. Shots ended 56-18 for La Crosse.

After the game, La Crosse head coach Alex North said that this was a great game for his team. When asked what it’s going to take to beat Onalaska on Thursday, he said, “Stay out of the box. There’s no way we want that powerplay on the ice. It’s going to take a team effort, and a lot of heart.”