Wildcats Whip Waunakee in Hockey

In a tight defensive battle, the boys ice hockey team defeated Waunakee 3-0 in the opening round of the sixth annual Paul Meyer Memorial Hockey Tournament at USM Friday evening. 

Good goaltending at each end kept the first two periods of the game scoreless.  The Waunakee’s senior goalie, Mitch Harras, made 14 saves during the first 34 minutes while USM’s sophomore goalkeeper, Brian Botcher, stopped all 16 shots the Warriors fired at the Wildcats’ net in the same time frame.

The score continued to be tied at 0-0 until the final six minutes of the game. Then the Wildcats finally struck gold. They scored their first goal on a power play. The Wildcats passed the puck around the perimeter of the Waunakee zone patiently awaiting a scoring chance. Junior Ben Walker moved the puck to senior Nathan Burke at the blue line. Burke immediately passed it to senior Ashton Wackym on the left mid boards. Wackym let loose a lightning bolt that thundered into the far upper corner of the net to break the tie with just 6:10 left in the third period. 

The Wildcats’ head coach Cal Roadhouse urged his charges to play defensive during the final minutes of the game while the Warriors did their best to score. But Botcher remained stoic, and his teammates helped him gain his first varsity shutout. They also scored two more goals to seal the victory.

USM scored its second goal at 15:20. Wackym skated the puck into the Warriors’ zone but was tied up along the left boards. He pushed the puck free to his line mate, junior Joey Judge. Judge stepped into the left circle and blasted a shot toward the right post where USM senior Corey Roadhouse had moved in. Roadhouse re-adjusted the path of the puck by tipping it over Harras’s shoulder for the goal.

Waunakee pulled Harras for an extra skater in the game’s final minute. USM capitalized on the empty net opportunity. Sophomore defenseman Vadim Sukhanov gathered in a loose puck in the right corner of the USM end. He skated behind the net and passed the puck to Burke in the opposite corner. Moving out, Burke lofted the puck out of the zone. It landed in front of Walker who was skating over the blue line.  He collected the airmailed gift, skated into the Waunakee end all alone, and slapped the puck into the open net at 16:53.

In the game Botcher made 25 saves while Harras made 17.

The game was the first of the season for both teams. Waunakee’s record is now 0-1.