January 25, 2019 at 1:24 p.m.
Moving past Mosinee
Hodags knock off Indians 6-2 in quarterfinals of GNC hockey tourney
Moving past Mosinee
Conor Pequet recorded a hat trick and the Hodags took care of Mosinee 6-2 in the tournament quarterfinals at the RIA. The win advanced Rhinelander to the semifinal round Tuesday night at Waupaca.
The Hodags jumped on the Indians from the start.
Freddy Wisner scored only 25 seconds into the contest, and Rhinelander built a 3-0 lead in the first, before Mosinee could find its bearings.
"We just played really, really well," coach M.J. Laggis said afterward. "Conor Pequet has a big night, three goals. Freddy Wisner played the game of his year, just total emotion and fire. He was up and down the rink and just a beast. I could say the same about Harlan Wojtusik and keep right on going through our defensive core.
"We just played with a lot of emotion and heart. That's the exact game we wanted to lay on the line tonight and I'm really proud of the kids."
Pequet began his scoring spree 3:18 into the contest, deflecting a Harlan Wojtusik pass on the power play. Sam Tjugum added a blast from the point at the 13:03 mark to give Rhinelander a 3-0 lead.
Mosinee answered 31 seconds later on a Gunner Colbert goal to cut the lead to 3-1 after one period.
Pequet and Hunter Hicks scored in the second to put Rhinelander ahead 5-1 after two periods and Pequet completed his hat trick with a power play goal 41 seconds into the third period.
Max Beste got free on a breakaway for a goal at the 4:27 mark for Mosinee to account for the game's final goal.
Rhinelander outshot Mosinee 45-17 in the contest. Seth Stafford made 13 saves for Rhinelander before giving way to freshman Caleb Shefveland with the game in hand in the final minute and a half. Shefveland stopped the only shot he faced.
Hicks stays hot
Senior Hunter Hicks' blistering play continued with a strong second period. Hicks made a no-look pass from the right corner to find Pequet open in front of the net for a goal that put Rhinelander ahead 4-1. Hicks then banged home a rebound off a Danny Zuiker shot later in the period. It was Hicks' ninth goal of the season - and sixth in the last four games.
Coach Laggis kept Hicks on the same line as Pequet and Wojtusik following their success together in the East/Merrill tournament.
"I can't say enough about Harlan Wojtusik's line tonight, they played really well," he said.
Laggis limited
The Hodags were forced to juggle the lines last weekend with Abe Laggis (shoulder) out of the lineup. Laggis returned to the ice Thursday in a somewhat limited capacity. He skated on the same line as seniors Wisner and Bridger Flory, and recorded an assist on the team's second goal.
Coach Laggis, Abe's father, said the team's leading scorer was only about 80 percent Thursday night, but played effectively.
"Abe had to play a different game tonight. He had to try to just stay out of the way and feed people pucks and make things happen," he said. "He controlled things up and down the ice nice. I thought that line played really well."
Mosinee was also less than 100 percent on the night. Trey Fitzgerald, the team's leading scorer, was scratched from the lineup.
Killing time
The bad news for the Hodags on Thursday night was that they committed seven penalties for 17 minutes. The good news was Mosinee did virtually nothing with the man advantage.
Mosinee went 0-6 on the power play and hardly had an opportunity to set up in the Hodags' zone despite the extra skater. Rhinelander improved its penalty kill to 91 percent (61 of 67) on the season with Thursday night's performance, while Mosinee dropped to a paltry 8.2 percent (4 of 49) on the power play.
"I have to credit our penalty kill. It's pretty darn good," coach Laggis said. "We know what we want to do and we're getting better at forcing pucks in the defensive zone. I thought earlier in the year we were just to passive on the kill and letting people set up. I think we've gotten a lot better at forcing the play, forcing the puck and trying to create turnovers."
Waupaca rematch
The Hodags will square off against Waupaca Tuesday night at the Waupaca Expo Center, but only after the Comets survived an upset scare from seventh-seeded Lakeland.
Waupaca scored the tying goal late in regulation and eventually beat the T-Birds 5-4 in a penalty shootout to move on to the semifinal round.
"I kind of predicted that tonight (Lakeland) would give Waupaca more than Waupaca thought they were going to get," said Laggis, who's team was upset in overtime by the T-Birds back on Jan. 8.
The game sets up a shot at some revenge for the Hodags, who lost to the Comets 6-1 during GNC regular season play Dec. 21 at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. Rhinelander lost Abe Laggis early in the first period of that contest after he took a knee-to-knee hit from Waupaca defenseman Davis Levine, who was assessed a five-minute major for his actions.
"They have a world of talent up front and they're fast," M.J. Laggis said, looking ahead to the Comets. "It's a redemption game and we're going to have to play really well to win it."
Up next
Rhinelander travels to Brookfield today for a non-conference game against the Stars. Faceoff is set for 5:15 p.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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