In the semi-finals of the Milwaukee Admirals High School Hockey Showdown at Wilson Park, University School came from behind to defeat Cedarburg 3-2 Tuesday afternoon.
Cedarburg scored the game’s first goal midway through the first period. Senior defenseman Nick Boehnlein stopped a USM clearing attempt at the USM blue line and quickly fired a shot the dove under the glove of USM’s senior goalkeeper Alex Langer at 8:49.
USM tied it up late in the same period. Senior Aaron Storch got the puck along the mid-boards in the Cedarburg end. He passed it to the point to junior defenseman Nathan Burke. Burked rocketed a slap shot that zoomed through a maze of players in front of Cedarburg’s sophomore goalie Tyler Jansen at 13:14.
Cedarburg went ahead once more during a power play in the second period. In the USM zone, junior Olaf Jurenko skated with the puck deep into the left corner. He lined a low off-angle shot that hit Langer’s pads. The puck bounced to the right and senior Danny Valoe raced in and tapped it into the open side of the net at 9:46.
The Bulldogs guarded their lead throughout the remainder of the second period, but surrendered it early in the third. Burke started the Wildcats’ scoring play by taking another shot from the point. The puck rebounded to senior Aaron Storch on the left side. Storch quickly knocked it across the low slot to senior Simon Leahy who was sitting at the back door like a hungry cat eager for scraps. Leahy swiftly tapped the puck in at 3:17 to tie the score at 2-2.
USM scored the game winner at 10:40 of the third period. Forechecking below the Cedarburg goal line, junior Corey Roadhouse knocked a loose puck to Storch. Storch avoided a check and slipped the puck back to Roadhouse. Roadhouse immediately sent the puck into the high slot to senior defenseman Zach Hafeman, who had slipped in from the point like a nuclear submarine on alert. Hafeman torpedoed a low shot into the net to give USM its first lead of the game and a victory.
In the game Jansen stopped 17 of USM’s 20 shots, while Langer turned aside 21 of Cedarburg’s 23 shots.
Cedarburg is now 3-6-1. The Bulldogs contend with Arrowhead at noon Wednesday at the Bradley Center for third place in the tournament. USM improved its record to 5-4-2. The Wildcats face-off at the Bradley Center against Marquette in the tournament’s championship game. It is scheduled to begin at 2:46 p.m. on Wednesday.
