Thirty minutes into the Wisconsin Valley Conference contest between host Wisconsin Rapids and visiting SPASH, Panthers coach Brandon Busse looked at the scoreboard on the west end of the South Wood County Rec Center and saw that it read: HOME 1, GUEST 0.
On a moderate Thursday evening in late January, Busse had to wonder what was going on, with his sixth-ranked Panthers trailing nearly two-thirds of the way through the game.
Then just like that, SPASH senior Eli Haas hustled to a puck that was just about to be covered by Rapids goalie Tanner Reany and tapped the biscuit into the net to tie the game with just under two minutes left in the middle period.
The Panthers would tally a pair in the third on their way to a hard-fought 3-1 win over the Red Raiders, earning their 16th consecutive victory, including four against Top 10 teams.
The home squad changed the number on their side of the scoreboard first on a nice pass-and-tip play.
Spencer Sparks took a pass from Nick Campbell at center ice and motored down the right side of the ice. When he got to the bottom of the circle, Sparks zipped a pass across the slot to a hard-charging Casey Hayek, who completed the opportunity with a nice re-direct that beat SPASH goalie Spencer Wierzba for a 1-0 lead with just over six minutes left in the opening stanza.
Each team had a good scoring chance late in the period, but the goalies stood tall, or in some cases stretched wide, to keep the score at 1-0, which is how the period would end. Reany had 11 saves for Rapids, while Wierzba stopped five pucks on the other end for the Panthers.
Rapids had a couple power play chances early in the second period, but the Point PK units stood strong and maintained the one-goal deficit.
Haas got his tap-in goal with 1:56 left in the period to tie it.
"Reany said he had his glove on it," said Rapids coach Pat McDonald. "But (Haas) hit it and tapped it in." And since the whistle had not been blown, the officials signaled a good goal, much to the joy of the SPASH bench and cheering section.
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The Panthers almost added to their tally with under a minute left, as Reany was out of position after making a save and then getting caught up in traffic, which must have seemed like the congestion seen on a Los Angeles freeway during rush hour.
A centering pass from behind the net was too hot for a SPASH forward to handle and dribbled out to center ice. Rapids was able to defend their goal the rest of the period and go to the locker room tied at one.
"When we went off for the second intermission, we felt pretty good," said McDonald.
Reany stopped 12 shots in the period, while Wierzba made saves on all eight shots that he faced.
Early in the third period, the good feeling that Rapids felt was erased, courtesy of Barrett Brooks.
The speedy forward took a pass in the neutral zone and shifted in high gear along the left side boards, beating a defender and then firing a shot that beat the goalie high on the short side to give the guests their first lead, just 17 seconds into the stanza.
"Barrett got the puck, used his speed and drove around the D-man and was able to tuck it short side," said Busse. "I don't think Reany was ready for it."
The goal put a little pep in the step of the Panthers, as they controlled play for most of the period, but Busse thought it was long overdue.
"We already had two periods (played) in the game, we should have had that jump start from the get-go."
On the other bench, the Red Raiders knew the goal could be a game-changer.
"Hockey is a game of momentum, and once SPASH got it, they were tough," noted McDonald.
And that toughness resulted in another score midway through the period.
Leo Knapp had the puck all by himself on the right side and raced in toward the goal, firing a shot that Reany stopped. The puck bounced out to the goalie's left, and shortly after, Nick Norrgan slipped the puck into the net for the 3-1 lead. Michael Glodosky earned a helper on the play.
Rapids took a time-out with just over a minute left and pulled Reany for an extra skater, but were unable to add to their score.
Each netminder stopped seven shots in the period, with Wierzba finishing with 20 and Reany ending with 30 to his credit.
Both coaches were pleased after the game, but for different reasons.
"Something like this gives us a little shot in the arm," said McDonald, referring to the closeness of the game.
Busse stated, "We were able to come out with a conference win against a good Rapids team."
