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Health & Fitness

Wildcats Split Two on Western Swing

The University School hockey team beat Sparta 4-2 and lost to Onalaska 4-1 in western Wisconsin over the weekend..

The University School boys hockey team traveled to western Wisconsin to play games against the Sparta co-op on Friday and Onalaska on Saturday. USM beat Sparta 4-2 and lost to Onalaska 4-1.

The Wildcats out shot Sparta 24-10 in the first period Friday, but the spirited Sparta team scored the period's only goal. Nick Dunn sent the puck to Michael Berghefer in the left corner of the USM zone, Berghefer stepped around a reaching USM defender and passed the puck out front to McCaffery Knoll who was unchecked in front. Knoll immediately tapped the oncoming puck past USM's goaltender Bryan Botcher at 10:52.

USM kept firing the puck at Sparta's goalie Julian Grosskopf in the second period and finally got a shot past him at 2:35. Vadim Sukhanov fired a low shot from the Sparta blue line that Milton Padway tipped past Grosskopf.

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The remainder of the game's goals were scored in the third period. First, the Vipers went back ahead on a power play. The Vipers set up and began moving the puck in the USM zone. Tyler Gorniack passed the puck to Hunter Meyer at the point. Meyer shot a low shot. In front of the net, Eric Burdick put his stick on it to change its direction into the net at 1:06.

The Wildcats tied it less than a minute later. In the Sparta zone, Ryan Revolinski passed the puck to Ashton Wackym on the right mid boards. Wackym sent it to Nelson Kies at the point. Kies shot it. It hit a Sparta defender in front of the net and skipped past Grosskopf at 1:37.

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USM scored the game winner midway through the period while killing a penalty. USM defenseman Joey Judge flipped the puck out of the USM end. Corey Roadhouse sped out of the zone and moved behind the Viper defenders to collect the loose puck. Roadhouse raced into the Sparta end on a breakaway. In the slot, he blistered a shot into the net to make the score 3-2 at 7:23.

In the final minute of the game, Sparta pulled Grosskopf for an extra attacker. USM defenseman Nathan Burke stepped up and broke up a Sparta rush just outside the USM blue line. Burke moved to the red line then lined a shot into the empty Sparta net at 16:21. 

In the game Grosskopf made 52 saves while Botcher made 28.

Saturday, despite the admonitions of head coach Cal Roadhouse, the Wildcats were unable to adequately stop Onalaska's top scorer, Jesse Tredinnick. Tredinnick scored three goals in the first two periods to give Onalaska a 3-0 lead that the Wildcats could not overcome, despite outshooting the Hilltoppers. Thanks to the fine play of Onalaska's goalie Scott Sibik and the Wildcats inability to get to the net to knock rebounds past him, USM did not score a goal in the first two periods.

Tredinnick's first goal came at 8:49 of the first period when he skated across the USM slot, collected a puck that had hit the stick of his teammate Bryce Bingham, and wired a shot past Botcher. Keaton Bronston also had an assist on the play.

Tredinnick's second goal came on a second period power play. He snagged the puck below the USM goal line, curled out front into the slot, and scorched a shot into the net for an unassisted goal at 5:05.

Tredinnick accomplished his hat trick at 12:06 when Bronston sent a pass to Bingham in the USM right corner. Bingham passed it into the circle to Tredinnick, who skated across the low slot unchecked, then lofted a backhander into the Wildcats' net. 

Sibik continued to frustrate the USM shooters, so as the game headed into its final three minutes, coach Roadhouse pulled Botcher for an extra shooter. Onalaska sent the puck deep into the zone attempting to get it into the empty net. Judge got the puck and passed it to Wackym in the USM right circle. Wackym skated up the ice, stickhandling past several Hilltoppers. As he moved into the Onalaska zone, he blasted a high shot that clanged off the goalpost and went past Sibik to make it 3-1 at 14:41.

USM pulled Botcher again. Onalaska's John Gargaro shot the puck from the Onalaska zone into the empty net to complete the victory.

In the game Sibik made 33 saves while Botcher made 17.

As a consequence of the weekend's games, USM has a 13-8 record. The Wildcats return home to face Marquette at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

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