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Double OT is okay with Verona

By MJ Hammett, 02/25/18, 7:30PM CST

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Wildcats need extra minutes but punch ticket to Coliseum

The Verona Wildcats were stretched to the maximum Saturday.

Late in the third period they had to go on the penalty kill and lost top forward Brogan Baker to a ten minute misconduct at the same time.

Advantage Edgewood ??

Not so fast.

Verona used a strong outing on defense and used a timely double overtime goal by Aidan Schmidt to squeak out a 4-3 win.

But for Brockton Baker it must've seemed like forever to get out of the box.

3:45 was left in the third period. After a penalty call against Verona, he was assessed a 10 minute major.

"I knew the guys could kill it off", said Brockton. "I knew if we did I would be coming out of the box fresh".

The Cats got on the board first when off a faceoff win by Leo Renlund, Aidan Schmidt scored his first of his two goals of the game with a quick shot past Crusader goalie Ben Cegelski. 31 seconds later Mack Keryluk scored when Baker was able to center him the puck from behind the net, giving Verona a quick 2-0 lead early.

Madison Edgewood would come back in the period and cut it to 2-1 when Payton Smith got a pass centered to him at the left circle and shot quickly before Verona goalie Garhett Kaegi could get across going top corner.

Verona came out early in the second period and in the opening minute was up 3-1 when Mason McCormick scored on a 2 on 1 13 seconds into the period.

Edgewood answered quickly with Carter Hottmann finishing the Crusaders own 2 on 1 chance 1:06 into the period. With 47 seconds left in the second, the Crusaders got the game even at 3 apiece when Jake Schmaltz scored.

The third period had neither team putting the other away but with Baker off the ice Verona was losing their most talented player for the rest of the third and a good portion of the first overtime. Each team had chances in the first overtime but nothing solved the issue.

"Coaches came in after the first intermission of overtime and said there were gonna be no changes", said Baker. Both teams were looking very tired and really were pushed to their limits when finally into the zone Leo Renlund let off a shot that came off the end boards that Schmidt hustled to and slapped it past Cegelski for the long awaited winner.

In the game Ben Cegelski made 36 saves while Garhett Kaegi made 31 stops. Verona now moves to the State Tournament on Thursday for a Quarterfinal matchup with NDA. The two teams met in Green Bay this season and decided nothing in a 3-3 tie.

WiPH Game Summaries