February 9, 2018 at 1:39 p.m.
Record breakers
Hodag hockey beats East/Merrill 4-0 for team-record 15th win
Record breakers
Seniors Cole Spaulding and Matthias Schneider scored in the first period Thursday night, Bridger Flory scored twice and Seth Stafford posted a 17-save shutout as this year's Hodag squad wrote a new page in the history book, defeating East/Merrill 4-0 at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
It was the Hodags 15th win of the season, surpassing the mark of 14 set by the 2008-09 squad.
"We've battled this year," said Spaulding, a senior captain. "We've had a lot of ups. We've had a lot of downs. To reach this 15 wins is really big, but I think as a team it hasn't sunk in yet. I think a couple of days, we'll be really feeling it."
"I think it's a good step for the program," coach M.J. Laggis added. "I keep everything in perspective. I realize there are quite a few programs around that have won more than 15 games, but this is a big step for our group."
Both Laggis and Spaulding admitted Thursday night's performance was not the team's best of the season, but it didn't have to be against an East/Merrill team that's seeded last in the 11-team WIAA Section 3 bracket as tournament play begins on Tuesday. Rhinelander was ahead 2-0 just more than five minutes into the game and went on to outshoot the Bluejacks 37-17.
The Hodags honored their senior class ahead of Thursday's game and it seemed only fitting that a pair of them set the tone early in the contest.
Schneider snapped a shot from the right point that beat East/Merrill goalie Caleb McCorkle top shelf 2:39 into the contest and Spaulding pounced at the top of the crease after McCorkle couldn't cover a loose puck at the 5:06 mark of the first.
"I thought Matthias and Cole carried the energy for us," Laggis said. "They weren't going to get beat tonight. Just a great job by them getting it going."
"We had to match the seniors from last year," Spaulding joked. "I know a lot of them scored, so I had that in the back of my mind. We had to come out and match them."
The Hodags controlled the second period, outshooting the Bluejacks 17-5 despite a case of penalty fever that broke out for both teams. After a clean first period, both teams were whistled four times for eight minutes in the second. Flory made it 3-0, with both sides a player down, as he was on the receiving end of a Harlan Wojtusik centering pass 7:46 into the second.
Flory scored again on the power play 6:23 into the third and the Hodags cruised from there.
"We did what we needed to, to get the job done and we put some pucks home. I'm proud of that," Laggis said. "I would give Seth Stafford a lot of credit. He made a lot of good saves and there were a lot of bouncing pucks that he got rid of or controlled or settled down for us."
Now the attention shifts to the WIAA playoffs as the Hodags prepare to host Mosinee Tuesday night at the RIA. It will be Rhinelander's first home playoff game since the 08-09 season.
"It's an accomplishment we've been working toward all year. A home playoff game is definitely an advantage," Schneider said. "I personally want to win a playoff game in my high school career and if we play like (we did tonight) against Mosinee, it's a 50-50 chance. I want it to be 100."
Rhinelander and Mosinee also played Friday night in makeup game to close out the regular season. The Hodags were in position to finish in a tie for third place in the GNC if they won the contest.
"It's been a highly successful season and now we've got to try to finish it," Laggis said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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