Playing in the prestigious Schwan’s Cup Tournament for the first time, the University School boys’ hockey team faced off against Princeton High School of Princeton, MN on Tuesday, December 26th at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, MN. In Tuesday’s quarter-final contest in the tournament’s Open Division, the Wildcats showed the Minnesotans some Wisconsin power by winning 9-0.
The Wildcats out shot the Tigers 31-8 in the non-conference game. Juniors Andrew Malek and Robby Newton led the USM scoring surge. Each scored two goals in the affair. Juniors Christian Blomquist, and Carson Mogush, sophomores Tyler Herzberg, and Casey Roepke, and freshman Ethan Mann, each added a goal for the victorious Wisconsinites. Thanks to his team’s defensive play, USM’s sophomore goaltender, Patrick Kelly faced only 8 shots on goal. He turned them all aside to gain the shutout.
Kylar Fenton, USM’s captain, said, “It was a great experience playing a team like that from Minnesota. We came out strong and didn't let up. It was a game where we needed to focus on the little details and get better as a team. Looking forward to playing in the semifinals.”
As Fenton mentioned, the Wildcats started strong. Tyler Herzberg scored on an assist from Roepke for the game’s first goal just 4:56 into the contest.
Less than three minutes later the Wildcats made it 2-0. Malek scored and Newton assisted on the tally at 7:30.
USM broke the game open in the second period. Blomquist gave the Wildcats a 3-0 with an unassisted goal only 45 seconds after the period began.
Newton took a pass from Malek and scored the Wildcats’ fourth goal at 4:51 of the second period.
The rout was on. But the visitors from Wisconsin truly showed who was the better team when they scored three even-strength goals in the span of 48 seconds midway through the period. Malek scored an unassisted goal at 7:39; Newton scored on a pass from his classmate Ethan Ford at 7:48; and Mogush put one past Ryce Thiel, the Tigers’ senior goalie, at 8:17. Fenton and Roepke assisted on Mogush’s goal.
The Wildcats scored their eighth goal at 14:01 of the second period on a power play. Mann fired the puck into the net off an assist by Roepke.
WiPH Game Summaries
Michigan Seniors slip past Wisconsin HP-18
- By Matt Carey, Contributor 04/27/2024, 7:15am CDT
North Dakota edges Wisconsin Seniors 3-1
- By Matt Carey, Contributor 04/27/2024, 7:15am CDT
Wisconsin HP-18 loses to Minnesota Seniors 2-3
- By Matt Carey, Contributor 04/26/2024, 6:45am CDT
Wisconsin Seniors lose 1-3 to Minnesota HP-18
- By Matt Carey, Contributor 04/26/2024, 6:45am CDT
WEHL 16U Southwest Skate All The Way To USA Hockey Semi-Finals
- By Coach Hoehn, WEHL 04/16/2024, 5:45pm CDT
WEHL 18U South East Girls at USA Hockey Nationals, March 20-24
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/20/2024, 7:45pm CDT
TW, Wisc Selects, and WEHL at Central Districts
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/16/2024, 9:45am CDT
19U Girls, 18U Boys Lead Six Team Wisconsin Teams to Central Districts
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/11/2024, 11:30am CDT
Tritons Stifle Stars to Go Back-to-Back
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/02/2024, 9:00pm CST
Storm Win Battle of Last Two State Champions
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/02/2024, 4:30pm CST
The Wildcats finished the scoring with a power play goal late in the third period. Roepke blasted the puck past Thiel at 13:38. Mogush and Herzberg were credited with assists on the play.
After the game, Jason Woods, USM’s head coach, commented, “A strong start for us at the Schwan Cup. Princeton has been a team that has scored a lot of goals this year, so the shutout was nice to see. We were loaded on a bus at 6:30 a.m. and didn’t play until 8:00 p.m., so there was some obvious concern. Once we got the bus legs out of our system in the second period, we were off to the races. Credit to the guys: we went over two weeks without a game and found a way to pick up right where we left off. I like the makeup of this group.”
The victory improved USM’s record to 8-1. The Wildcats advance in the tournament to play the Marshall High School Tigers in an Open Division semi-final game. The face-off in the non-conference game is scheduled for at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 27th at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, MN.
