On Friday evening, the Warriors rolled into the Appleton Ice Center with Coach Jason Buchholz never have beaten Appleton, much less trying to win on the road. The Warriors didn’t care what the previous outcomes had been. Instead they wanted to continue to show they were contenders for the Badgerland crown.
As has been typical for the Warriors in the first period, they struggled to put the puck past Appleton Goalie Gage Olsen. Both teams went back and forth getting few shots on net. Then with 6:53 left in the first period, Dylan Sauer sniped one past Olson to break the seal. Sauer was assisted by Brayden VandeZande and Tyler Flegner.
The rest of the first period remained scoreless. The Warriors had to kill off a 5-on-3 late in the period as Dylan Sauer was called for holding and less than a minute later Caleb Sauer was called for slashing while trying to play the puck in front of him. The Warrior defense held and Waupun went into the locker room with the lead after the first period.
As has been the case all season, the Warriors came out in the second period putting pucks into the net. Prior to the game the Warriors, were outscoring their opponents 8-2.
At 4:28 in the second period, VandeZande precisely placed a tip past Olson with a great feed from Malachi Buchholz who received a nice tip pass from Dylan Sauer off the boards. Would the Warriors be able to hold the most dangerous lead in hockey and break the losing drought for Coach Buchholz?
It didn’t look good when Waupun again when on the penalty kill at 7:46 when Baron Buchholz was called for high sticking and just :45 seconds later Jarrett Buchholz was called for interference. The Warrior penalty killers continued their hard work and killed off the 5-on-3 with several strong saves by Caleb Sauer and aggressive pressure by Seniors Colin Holtz, Carson Schramm, and Cole Kamphuis.
At 12:53 in the 2nd period, the Warriors put another puck in the net to take a 3-0 lead. Caleb Baxter take a quick wrist shot from the slot after receiving a great feed from Baron Buchholz who battled behind the net after receiving a pass from his cousin Jarrett Buchholz. Things were looking pretty good for the Warriors.
Less than a minute later, Appleton changed up their offensive attack by leaving a forward high in the neutral zone. The Warriors defense got caught attacking a little too deep and a strong breakout pass from Appleton’s Greyson Maulick to Ben Thomas left a a break away on Caleb Sauer. Great hands by Thomas sunk the puck on a backhand drive past Sauer with 2:38 seconds left in the second.
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Back to the two-goal lead. Less than a minute later, Appleton was able to run the same exact play, with a break out pass once again behind the Warrior defense. This time Josh Christoppherson drove to the net and Sauer was able to make the save. The Warriors held on to the two-goal lead at the end of two periods.
Just as has been the case all year, the Warrior third period was very productive. This time it was unconventional. The Warriors still had trouble staying out of the penalty box. It actually worked in Waupun’s favor. Twice in less than a minute the Warriors scored shorthanded as their relentless pressure on the penalty kill caused two turnovers in Appleton’s defensive zone.
The first shorty was a great steal from Colin Holz who skillfully placed the puck over the glove of Appleton Goalie Gage Olson to give Waupun a 4-1 lead. Less than a minute later, the Warriors scored another short handed goal when Baron Buchholz put tremendous pressure on Appleton’s defense, stealing the puck and making a precise pass to Cam Beek who drove to the net and lifted a back hand shot just over the pads of Olson. The Warriors were sitting pretty well with a 5-1 lead with 9:55 left in the game.
The Warriors power play decided to get into the scoring action. With 6:01 left in the game, Carson Schramm once again battling down by the net was left wide open on the back door. Holz found him with a beautiful cross the slot pass and Schramm tipped it in. The lead was now 6-1 and with the Warrior defense playing well and Sauer dialed in in the net, things were looking good for the Warriors.
With 4:22 left in the game the Warriors once again worked the puck around the Appleton net, and put another on in on great teamwork. However the goal was waved off as the referee said the net was off its post.
The Warriors remained determine to erase the Appleton United demons for Coach Buchholz and continued with their pressure. With 1:02 left in the game, Cameron Beek put his second puck in the net with assists from Jarrett Buchholz and Colin Holz giving Holz his third point for the night. The final score was 7-1, the first victory for Coach Buchholz over United, and another road victory for the Warriors.
The Warriors are now 3-0 in the Badgerland conference and 6-1 overall with their only loss to USM when the Warriors were missing Baron Buchholz and Cam Beek as well as racking up 60 minutes in penalties.
The Warriors will next face the 6-1 KMMO team at home on Thursday at 7:30pm.
