September 24, 2012 at 3:24 p.m.
Hockey: Street Cats swept by Hartland
Hounds rally twice to spoil Rhinelander's Midwest Junior Hockey League debut
Hockey: Street Cats swept by Hartland
Hartland rallied to sweep the Street Cats 5-3 and 6-4 Saturday and Sunday at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Rhinelander had a 3-1 lead after two periods Friday and led 2-1 after the first period Saturday.
The Street Cats (0-2-0-0) struck first in Saturday's contest as Rhinelander resident Eric Blankenship, a volunteer assistant coach for the Rhinelander/Antigo girls' high school hockey team last season, scored the franchise's first goal on a power play at the 4:07 mark of the second period. Moments later, the Cats made it 2-0 when Blake Rowe scored in front of the net, with assists from Cody Schatzman and Cody West. Hartland (4-0-0-0) scored on a power play goal at the 9:01 mark of the period by Jake Herrikson, but the Cats' restored the two-goal lead with a four-on-four goal from Alex Van Wagner.
The third period belonged to Hartland's front line. Thomas Kerr had a hat trick in the third, scoring at 4:53, 6:02 and 15:14. Rhinelander goalie Spencer Brasswell had 39 saves in the loss and came out of goal with 27 seconds remaining in favor of an extra attacker. Rhinelander turned the puck over at the Hartland blue line and the MWJHL's leading scorer, Cam Miglia, deposited the puck in an empty net to end the Street Cats' chances.
Kerr gave the Hounds the early lead Sunday, scoring at the 10:12 mark of the first period, but Rhinelander fought to take the lead back with goals from Dylan Farmer and Devin Vander Wyk, the latter coming with 34 seconds remaining in the first period.
But Hartland answered with three goals in the second period. Kerr scored at the 4:12 mark to tie the game. Jordan Ruterbusch gave the Hounds the lead at the 6:10 mark and Bobby Schumacher added to the lead nine minutes later.
Rhinelander drew within a goal with 25 seconds remaining in the period on a T.J. Houtari goal, but Miglia restored Hartland's two-goal advantage 12 seconds into the third period. Hartland scored again 6:13 into the third. Vander Wyk answered moments later for Rhinelander, but the Street Cats drew no closer.
Hartland had more offensive pressure in both games, outshooting Rhinelander 44-21 Saturday and 38-20 Sunday. Kent Nusbaum stopped 32 shots in Sunday's loss.
Things became increasingly chippy between the two teams as the weekend progressed. Sunday's game featured 18 penalties and 67 penalty minutes, the majority of which came in the third period. Hartland racked up 45 penalty minutes in the contest, but Rhinelander was 0-for-8 on the power play.
A modest crowd attended the weekend's contest. Saturday night's official attendance was listed at 103. Seventy-four fans witnessed Sunday's contest.
Rhinelander is off next weekend and will return to action Oct. 6-7 against Tennyson Chevrolet at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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