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USM boys earn Paul Meyer Tourney title

By Tom Geilfuss, USM Assistant Coach, 11/27/17, 8:00PM CST

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Wildcats outscore Waunakee and Waupun by 14-3 tally


The University School boys’ hockey team won the Paul Meyer Memorial Tournament that USM hosted on Friday, November 24th and Saturday, November 25th.

The Wildcats displayed their talents for the crowd in their first two home games of the season.  They outscored their opponents, Waunakee and Waupun, by a total of 14-3 in the tournament.

Junior Robby Newton scored a hat trick to lead USM to a 7-0 victory over Waunakee in the tournament’s opening round on Friday, November 24th. For the tournament, Newton had four goals and four assists.

The Wildcats outshot the Warriors 28-7 in the lopsided non-conference contest.  Joining Newton on the scoresheet’s goal scoring column were senior Kylar Fenton, juniors Andrew Malek and Carson Mogush, and sophomore Blake Carey.  Sophomore goaltender Patrick Kelly recorded the shutout for the Wildcats.

The victory improved USM’s record to 1-1.

After Friday’s game, sophomore Casey Roepke, one of USM’s assistant captains, said, “The Boys came out ready to go today in our home opener.  Lots of energy and grit from everyone on the team. This was a good game for us. We got up early, which gave us the opportunity to get the younger guys minutes.”

On Saturday, the Wildcats took on Waupun in the championship game of the tournament.  The Wildcats jumped to the lead with three goals in the first period.  Junior Christian Blomquist scored two of them, the first on a power play at 5:01 and an even strength goal at 16:02.  In between, Carey added a power play goal at 7:00.  All three were scored by winning battles for the puck in the crease around Waupun’s senior goalie, Caleb Sauer.

Waupun moved closer with two goals within 30 seconds of each other early in the third period.  Junior Brayden VandeZande scored at 4:38 on a power play.  Sophomore Jarrett Bucholz put the puck past USM’s junior goaltender Frank Fee seconds later at 5:09.

Fee had equipment problems at that point and left the game for the remainder of the second period. Kelly stepped in and made one save during the period.  Fee returned for the third period.  Overall, Fee made 14 saves in the game.

After the Warriors closed the scoring gap to one, the Wildcats renewed their efforts.  They scored three more goals in the second period.  Freshman Ethan Mann scored by knocking the puck past Sauer off a rebound of a shot by sophomore Tyler Herzberg at 7:27. Sophomore Alex Thundercloud made it 5-2 USM, when he skated around several opponents in the Waupun zone and buried a shot into the Warriors net at 10:24.  Newton scored his fourth goal of the tournament on a power play shot at 13:07.

Each team scored a goal in the third period.  Brandon Pritchard scored for Waupun at 4:09. Herzberg put the icing on the tournament cake for the victorious Wildcats with a goal at 6:53.

Jason Woods, USM’s head coach, commented on the tournament victories, “A solid weekend for us, culminating in a Paul Meyer Championship. It’s nice to get a convincing win against a sectional opponent to complete the championship. Now onto another big week next week.  I like who we are and the growth potential I see.  Now is the time to keep getting better every day.”

Waupun is now 1-1.  The Warriors face off against Beaver Dam in a Badgerland Conference contest at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 28th at the Beaver Dam Ice Center.

The Wildcats improved their record to 2-1 with the tournament victories.  They open the Classic Eight Conference schedule with a game against Greendale at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 28th at USM.

WiPH Game Summaries