December 29, 2018 at 3:43 p.m.
RHS outlasts Baraboo in tourney opener
RHS outlasts Baraboo in tourney opener
The Hodags scored twice in the final seven minutes to defeat the Thunderbirds 4-1 at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. Rhinelander advanced to Saturday's championship game against Sheboygan, which concluded after deadline.
"We did a good job finishing in the end and I'm happy with how we played," coach M.J. Laggis said afterward. "It was a hard-fought win tonight and we're going to play a real fast Sheboygan team tomorrow."
Abe Laggis, who escaped significant injury following a knee-to-knee blow delivered by Waupaca's Davis Levine one week earlier, was in the lineup for Rhinelander on Friday and scored the goal that gave the Hodags a 3-1 lead with 6:44 remaining.
"Abe had a nice goal there and I thought we kind of settled things down," said coach Laggis, Abe's father. "I wouldn't say (his knee is) 100 percent, but everything's intact. He has some soreness and bruising. He wasn't clearly as fast as he is tonight, but a nice goal right there."
The Hodags needed that goal to stem the tide. After racing out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, Rhinelander was dominated by Baraboo/Portage in the second. The Thunderbirds outshot the Hodags 17-3 in the second period and leveled several bone-jarring checks in the process.
"In the second period they flipped the switch," M.J. Laggis said. "They just came out and started playing physical. You could tell the message in their locker was clear - come out and hit and hit and hit. I thought they really took us off our game in the second. I thought they pretty much dominated the second."
Despite that, and despite having to kill off a 5-on-3 power play, the Hodags nearly got out of the second period unscathed, but Mike Wech walked into the Rhinelander zone and beat goalie Seth Stafford top shelf fractions of a second before the horn sounded to end the period.
"You saw that clock ticking down and they were coming into the zone," coach Laggis said. "We had a couple of opportunities to backcheck that guy and our feet stopped and we were swinging our sticks. Two or three guys could have went a little harder in that moment, for sure, but they made the play. That was a big momentum changer."
The Hodags slowly took back momentum in the third before the Abe Laggis' goal. Bridger Flory added an empty netter with 1:19 remaining to account for the final margin.
Baraboo/Portage controlled the first few minutes of the opening period before Rhinelander began to find its legs thanks to special teams. Freddy Wisner put the Hodags up 1-0 at the 10:38 mark moments after a Wech cross-checking penalty expired. Conor Pequet made it 2-0 at the 16:03 mark, scoring 17 seconds into a power play for a Luna Larson elbowing penalty.
"In the first period we controlled things nicely, scored a power play goal. Our power play looked really good and we got things going our way," coach Laggis said.
Rhinelander outshot Baraboo 33-29 in the contest. Stafford made 28 saves in the win. Sheboygan defeated Tomahawk 5-3 in Friday night's other semifinal contest.
Next up for the Hodags is a rematch with Pacelli in Stevens Point Thursday. The Hawks upset the Hodags 4-2 in Rhinelander back on Dec. 20.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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