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Larsen stops 59, but not enough in USM 3-0 win

By Tom Geilfuss, USM Assistant Coach, 01/16/19, 9:15PM CST

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Wildcats dominate shot chart by 62-7 margin

How do you beat a good goalie?  The University School boys’ hockey team solved that conundrum on Tuesday, January 15th by taking a lot of shots, a whole lot.  The Wildcats fired 62 shots at Garrett Larsen, Waukesha’s stellar goalie, and eventually put three behind him. The Wildcats came home from the Nagawaukee Ice Arena in Delafield with a 3-0 victory in a Classic Eight Conference game.

Jason Woods, USM’s head coach, complimented Larsen and the Wildcats’ on their win, “A really great effort by the boys tonight.  You know anytime you step on the ice and Garrett Larsen is the other net, you’re in for a long night.  We were able to get what we needed past him, but that kid is special.  I compare him to Bryan Botcher, our outstanding goalie from a few years back. He just makes playing goalie look easy.  Credit to our guys, they battle every day.  I am sure they are eager and excited to hit the home ice Saturday against Kettle Moraine.”

The Wildcats took 22 shots in the opening period.  Larsen stopped them all.  The Wings managed just 2 shots on USM’s goaltender, Frank Fee, in the period.  With all the action at the other end of the ice, Fee concluded the night with 7 saves and a shutout.

USM finally scored a goal early in the second period.  Forechecking, Ethan Mann angled a Waukesha defenseman toward the right sideboards and body-checked him off the puck.  Mann grabbed the puck and quickly passed it to Sterling Cooke, who was all alone in the slot.  Cooke skated in and slid the puck to Larsen’s stick side and into the net near the post at 1:33.

The Wildcats scored their next two goals on power plays, one in the second period and the other in the third period.

USM went ahead 2-0 at 11:33 of the second period.  As the Wildcats worked the puck around the Waukesha zone on the man-advantage, it went to Casey Roepke at the top of the umbrella.  Roepke faked the point shot and zinged a pass to Robby Newton in the right circle.  Newton blazed a shot inside the far post for the goal.

The Wildcats scored their second power play goal midway through the third period.  Ethan Ford got the puck at the center of Waukesha’s blue line and skated with it to the right sideboards.  He lined a pass to Blake Carey, who was set up in front like the Rock of Gibraltar.  The puck caromed off of Carey’s foot toward the far post.  TJ Fenton was there and jammed it into the net at 7:53, securing USM’s victory.

After the game, Roepke, who is one of USM’s captains, saluted his teammates’ efforts, “This was a huge win for the team. A conference game that we haven’t won in years. We came out firing and didn’t let up all game. Shift by shift the guys went hard. We knew we were playing a hard goalie and had to get traffic and put up a lot of shots. We peppered him all game. Overall, a great night for the boys.”

Waukesha is now 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the Classic Eight Conference.  The Wings take on Whitefish Bay/Nicolet/Shorewood in a non-conference game at 5:45 p.m. on Friday, January 25th at the Nagawaukee Ice Arena in Delafield.

USM is 17-1 and 4-0 in the Classic Eight Conference.  The Wildcats play Kettle Moraine in a Classic Eight Conference game at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 19th at USM.

WiPH Game Summaries