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Big first period enough for West in 7-2 win over Rapids

By Michael Trzinski, WiPH Staff, 02/01/18, 11:30PM CST

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Warriors score four times in a span of five minutes

It was Senior Night at the South Wood County Rec Center Thursday night, and as the starting lineup was announced for host Wisconsin Rapids, six players stood on the goal line. In goal was Alex Rawding, getting only his second start of the season.

Wausau West treated him rudely, but 'RawDog' will be remembered for his performance in the middle period, even though fourth-ranked West earned a 7-2 victory on a cold evening as the calendar changed from January to February.

The home boys came out fast, reminiscent of the old 'Quick Score' Red Raiders of days gone by. Colton Flammini grabbed a pass in the neutral zone and started up-ice before skating to the right side. As he gained the right dot, he fired a low shot that snicked off the left pad of West goalie Nick Hahner and into the net for an early 1-0 lead. Isaac Gilbert and Cobe Acker earned helpers on the play that came just 44 seconds into the contest.

"Our main focus was to get off to a fast start, so to do it tonight against West is a shot in the arm," said Rapids coach Pat McDonald. "We're doing the right things."

That got the favored Warriors rolling, and they tallied four goals in a span of 286 seconds. Just to put that into a full-game perspective, if teams scored at that pace for the entire 3060 seconds of one game, there would be 43 goals scored.

Ouch.

Marc Sippel opened the scoring for West with his shot from the right circle that may have bounced off a Rapids player and into the net. Ty Bailey got an assist on the play at the 4:28 mark.

Just over two minutes later, Lucas Langlois scored from the slot area for his first varsity goal to make it 2-1 at the 6:40 mark. Sippel got the assist on the play, and then asked the ref if he could secure the souvenir puck before skating to the bench and flipping it to head coach BJ Brandt for safekeeping.

Max Techel increased the margin to 3-1 just over a minute later when Max Zingler sent a pass from below the goal line to a charging Techel on the right side, and one flick of the wrist later, West had a two-goal lead.

West (14-5-2, 8-1 Wisconsin Valley) built a 4-1 lead with Collin Marquardt's shot from the right point, with helpers to John Prokop and Dayne Hagedorn at 9:14.

Rapids cut the lead to two goals with a score by Nick Campbell from just inside the left circle three minutes later. Gilbert got the lone helper on the play.

WiPH Game Summaries

And that's how the period ended, with West skating off with a 4-2 lead. Both Hahner and Rawding had six saves in the period.

The middle period was all Mr. Rawding. 

The Rapids senior saw 20 shots and stopped them all, earning pats on the helmet and hugs from teammates as he skated off for the second intermission.

"Hell of a period by 'RawDog'," said McDonald. "He went out and made some saves, and became more confident."

The only near-miss was on the other end with just over five minutes left. A Rapids shot airmailed over the net and hit just right on the glass, bouncing back over the net and into the paint near the West goalie. It was alertly cleared before a Rapids player could sweep it into the goal.

Hahner stopped eight shots in the period.

The final period was all West, as they scored a a pair of early goals less than a minute apart to put the game out of reach.

"The third period was one of the more complete periods we played all year," noted Brandt.

First, Frank Dovorany flew down the left side and ripped a shot past the goalie that went 'bar down and out,' zipping out of the net in a blink of an eye. The goal counted, and Prokop and Langlois got assists on the play.

Then, 49 seconds later, Carson Marquardt picked up some loose change on the right side and cashed in, giving West a 6-2 lead.

At that point, McDonald removed a gassed Rawding to a nice hand by the Rapids crowd. Normal starter Tanner Reany took the net in place of the senior.

Exactly six minutes later, West finished the scoring with a nice goal by Jake Bailey.

Brother Ty Bailey skated down the middle before faking a shot on goal. He then passed it off to the right side to Jake Bailey, who saw a wide-open net and did not miss. The first varsity goal for Bailey was also assisted by Zingler.

"That was a nice feed from his brother," said Brandt. "Nice to see that connection."

The only penalty of the game was called on West with just under five minutes left, but Rapids was unable to convert and the score ended up 7-2.

Hahner made three saves and finished with 17, while Rawding stopped four shots and ended with 30 saves on a very special evening for him. Reany stopped nine shots in relief.

The Red Raiders dropped to 10-10-1 (3-6 WVC).

"Last time we played West compared to this time—light year's difference," noted McDonald. "I'm happy with this group. There's no 'quit' in their vocabulary."

For West, things don't get any easier, as they will play host to top-ranked Hudson Saturday afternoon at Marathon Park.

"That's going to be a heck of a match-up," said Brandt.