March 9, 2018 at 2:05 p.m.
RIA Peewees primed for state run
RIA Peewees primed for state run
The Hodags, who went 39-4-1 during the regular season in the 12-and-under division, will get set to face Sauk Prairie in the quarterfinals this afternoon at the Marshfield Youth Ice Center.
"We've had our ups and downs," coach Tom Roeser said following an invite the team hosted last month at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. "We've won some games that we shouldn't have won - or that people didn't think we would win. We've also played some tight games with teams we thought we should have done a lot better against."
The Hodags earned the Region 2 bid with ease, defeating Merrill 10-1 in a playdown game exactly one month a go to earn the right to compete at state along with Amery, Waupaca, Sauk Prairie, Beaver Dam, Black River Falls, Monroe and Marshfield.
Though all of the players are only in middle school, Roeser said many of them have been playing together for quite some time and the 13-skater roster even includes a couple of girls who have mixed it up on the blue line with defenders Wyndi Saari and Maddi Roeser.
"They've got a little experience (at state)," Tom Roeser said reference previous WAHA state experience at the Peewee and Squirt levels. "A lot of them have (club hockey) experience. They can go into a big building, like Duluth or wherever and have learned to win big games that way. I think that summer experience has helped us out."
While Rhinelander racked up wins much of the season, its home invite a couple of weekends ago provided a strong tuneup for this weekend's competition. The Hodags opened that tournament against Sauk Prairie - the same team they will open the state tournament against - and lost 6-3. That was followed with a 4-4 tie against SHAW. The Hodags won a shootout to determine who would advance to the consolation championship game of the tournament. In the final game Rhinelander jumped out to a 6-1 lead on Ozaukee through two periods only to have to withstand a wild comeback to take a 7-6 victory.
"It was a great lesson for us," Roeser said. "We got a little complacent with a five-goal lead and the Ozaukee team that I saw in the first period and second period wasn't the team I saw (earlier in the tournament). I knew they weren't playing the way they wanted to play and we got a little carefree and they came back and showed us who they were."
Having faced Sauk Prairie already, Roeser said the team knows what kind of competition it is in for this afternoon and said the team has had high school players at practice the last couple of weeks to help prepare for Sauk Prairie's overall speed.
"They've got one kid for sure with a lot of speed and they're a disciplined team," he said. "I know their coach. He knows hockey. I know they've been watching us play so I think they'll be doing a lot of planning on how we play like I've done with him."
Regardless of the outcome of the Sauk Prairie game, the Hodags are guaranteed three games at the state tournament. How they fare in the two games they play today will determine what place they play for Sunday.
"I know we can go and put on a good showing," Roeser said. "I'd like to just start putting three periods together - and that's been (a point of emphasis) all year long. We're notorious for starting very slow. We need to come out fast against these teams ... Sauk Prairie, they were up 2-0 right away on us. We need to learn to start faster. We're pretty good at finishing game, I'm pretty confident with that."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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