One night after a 3-1 loss to Team Copper Country, the top-ranked Tier II U18 team, the Green Bay Bobcats faced another top team—fourth-ranked Wonderland Wizards of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The home team got off to a 1-0 lead in the first period at Cornerstone Community Center but was unable to seal the deal as the Wizards created a little magic, scoring three times in the last period to sign off on a 3-1 win over the Bobcats on Day Two of the USA Nationals.

The Bobcats almost got off to an early start, but a puck in the net was whistled as ‘no goal’ when the net was obviously off its pegs a second or two prior to the score three minutes into the contest.

Three minutes later, Caleb Johnson grabbed a loose puck in the Wizards d-zone and advanced on goalie Ryan Fleming, but his back-hander flew high over the net as the goalie stood tall to negate the attempt.

After a few minutes of back-and-forth effort with no scoring, the Bobcats came through after a shot off the post.

Aaron Ribar sent a shot from the slot area off the right post, but it bounced out to Max Moore, who was stationed on the bottom of the right circle. The Bay Port senior pounded the puck past Fleming and gave Green Bay a 1-0 lead with just under five minutes left in the period. Graham Manders also earned a helper on the play.

As time wound down in the period, Bobcats goalie Broderick VanDenHeuvel made two nice stops to keep the lead at one. The Bobcats netminder stopped 10 shots in the period, while Fleming made five saves for the Wizards.

The middle period had no scoring, even though each team had a pair of power play chances.

With under four minutes left, Matt Minch had a couple shots on net, but Fleming turned aside both to frustrate the Bobcats. To further add insult to injury, Fleming made a stop on a Bobcats rush with less than five seconds left.

VanDenHeuvel stopped nine shots for Green Bay, while Fleming made six saves in the period for the Wizards. 

The Wizards increased the pressure early in the third, but good work in net by VanDenHeuvel kept the score at 1-0.

First, a long stretch pass to Michael Bencivengo caught the Bobcats in a line change, but the goalie's blocker kept the puck out of the net two minutes into the period. A minute later, Carter Kral’s shot was blocked by the Bobcats goalie.

The Bobcats finally cracked with under 12 minutes left. Calyb Reeves grabbed a pass from Quinn Carlisle, who was working behind the net, and beat the Bobcats goalie for the game-tying goal.

Each team had a few chances as time wound down, but no one was able to score until Kral scored from close in to give the Wizards a 2-1 lead with 1:24 left. Reeves and Matthew Kernaghan were given helpers on the play.

Green Bay called a time out, and 21 seconds later, the goalie came off for an extra skater.

Then with 8.9 seconds left, Cole Casl fired a shot from the right boards to account for the final score, an empty-netter. Raif Harris and Clay Korpi had assists on the play.

VanDenHeuvel had nine saves in the period and ended with 28 for a game total. Fleming stopped eight shots for a game total of 19.