November 29, 2017 at 12:54 p.m.
Second period propels Hodags past De Pere 2-1
Second period propels Hodags past De Pere 2-1
Cole Spaulding and Harlan Wojtusik scored in the second period and Rhinelander held off De Pere Tuesday night 2-1 in the home opener at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Rhinelander has scored a pair of one-goal wins so far this season, including a 3-2 win last week at Chequamegon/Phillips.
"Two one-goal wins, but we've been unable to roll three lines steady here," coach M.J. Laggis said. "That's going to be our goal in the coming games, getting more kids more ice. We've got just a ton to work on ... We started off slow and we got it done. We're 2-0 but we've got to play a lot better than we have so far."
Laggis said De Pere controlled the opening period, and took a 1-0 lead as a result on a Grant Tritabaugh goal at the seven-minute mark.
"I was particularly concerned about our defensive zone, just running around with our sticks at our waist and throwing it around and, literally, doing everything we don't work on," he said. "That's what we did. We just had the panic button. We didn't handle the puck well in neutral ice and we just couldn't get anything going at all."
Things changed in the second as Cole Spaulding scored with four seconds left on a Tritabaugh checking from behind major, off assists from Freddy Wisner and Brandon Kolasa. Wojtusik netted what proved to be the game-winner at the 8:25 mark of the second.
"Cole Spaulding walked in there and had a nice finish," Laggis said. "Freddy Wisner created a lot of that to get up ice and Cole Spaulding buried it. That was a beautiful goal to get the fire started. Then Harlan Wojtusik got his (goal), the first of his (varsity) career and what a way to do it - winds up being the game winner."
The Hodags withstood a late push in the final two minutes of regulation as the Voyageurs pulled goalie Jay Wenger for an extra attacker.
"Guys are giving up their body and blocking shots there," Laggis said. "(Goalie) Seth (Stafford) makes a huge save with about 12 seconds left. We fought hard and got the win. I guess that's all you can say in that moment. You fought hard and got the win."
De Pere slightly outshot Rhinelander 18-17 in a defensive struggle. Stafford made 17 saves in the win for Rhinelander.
"Seth Stafford played very well, made a lot of big saves when he had to and that was great," Laggis said.
The Hodags open Great Northern Conference play at Waupaca Saturday night.
Freelance reporter Bob Mainhardt contributed to this report.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.