December 7, 2020 at 8:20 a.m.
Eagle River exorcism
Hodags, Laggis finally get victory over perennial power Northland Pines
Eagle River exorcism
That all changed Thursday night.
Harlan Wojtusik scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Hodags shocked the reigning Great Northern Conference champions and WIAA Division 2 state runners-up 5-2 in the venerable Eagle River Sports Arena.
It's been nearly three decades since Rhinelander dethroned one of the blue bloods of hockey in Wisconsin. The last time was in 1991, according to Northern Edge girls' hockey coach Tom Roeser, who was a player on the Hodag team that accomplished the feat.
There have been plenty of lopsided defeats since then, some close calls, and even a 3-3 tie between the teams in Rhinelander back in 2003. Laggis has pretty much seen it all against Northland Pines, but finally, he was able to see his team celebrate a win over the Eagles.
"I've taken some of the harshest losses of my life in this building," he said. "So many times we've thought we had a good team and really improved, and then we come up here and just get lambasted. It says a lot. It's emotional. I get a little choked up feeling, seeing it. Not to be dramatic about it, but you get choked up about it and you realize it's awfully nice to come up here and win in a building you haven't won in before."
The Hodags dug themselves out of a 2-0 first-period deficit, thanks in large part to four power play goals. All three of Rhinelander's goals in the third period came with the man advantage as Rhinelander broke a 2-2 deadlock following 34 minutes of hockey.
"I thought, down the stretch tonight, we had more legs. I really did," Laggis said. "All credit to Pines. I'll never discredit this town or this hockey program, it's a very good one, but I thought we had more legs and I thought we were better down the stretch."
Wojtusik scored the go-ahead goal 2:03 into the third, banging home a rebound off a Leo Losch shot. That was a common theme for the Hodags as all four power-play goals were the result of crashing the net hard and getting second chances.
"I knew going into this game we could have some decent chances and they came up big for us," Wojtusik said. "I'm happy we could come through on the power play."
"We ran it successfully and crashed and bashed for some goals," added Laggis. "They weren't necessarily gorgeous, tape-to-tape, highlight reel goals, but they were certainly hard-working, blue-collar goals and that was awesome."
Joe Schneider poked in a loose puck in a scrum in front of the net after his younger brother, Sam, sent a shot in from the point at the 9:20 mark of the third to make it 4-2. The goal came with six seconds remaining on a five-minute major head contact penalty by Northland Pines' Michael Mailette. Ironically, Joe Schneider was the recipient of the illegal hit that drew the major penalty and a game disqualification.
Carter Detienne tacked on one more score with 43 seconds remaining, and the celebration on the Hodag bench was on.
"I've been thinking about this since I was a freshman," Wojtusik said. "It definitely feels good to come up here and beat them in their home opener. It's definitely a great feeling."
Early in the going, the game had the feeling of just another bad night for the Hodags in Eagle River's dome. Jake Wielhouwer threw one on net and beat junior goalie Garrett Kulhanek just 20 seconds into the contest to put the Eagles on the board. Later in the first, penalties on Jake Losch and Detienne gave Northland Pines a 5-on-3 power play. Technically, Rhinelander killed off the two-man advantage, but Trevor Romatoski slid one past Kulhanek moments after the second penalty expired and before Rhinelander could clear the puck from its own zone.
Despite the rough start, there was no sense of panic on the Hodag bench.
"We knew we were still in this game," Wojtusik said. "It was only a two-goal game and we had some chances in the first period. We knew if we buried a quick one, we could get back in it."
A goal 20 seconds into the second period would qualify as a quick goal. Freshman Joey Belanger scored in his varsity debut, tucking one just inside the near post to get the Hodags on the board.
The Hodags had a couple of chances moments later after a major head contact penalty on Romatoski. Wojtusik thought he had scored twice moments apart, but his first goal was disallowed as Rhinelander was deemed to have a man in the crease. His second chance clanged off the crossbar and caromed away. Leo Losch made the unlucky breaks inconsequential as he gathered a loose puck in front of the net and tied it at the 5:16 mark of the period.
"When it was 2-0 and penalties were killing us, we got some momentum going again," Laggis said. "It started in that second period when we came out with a good shift and Belanger had a goal, but it wasn't just the goal. We had a good forecheck, good pressure, hard on the net. Then we started to get the momentum going."
Rhinelander outshot Northland Pines 37-30 in the contest. Kulhanek, who is battling fellow junior Caleb Shefveland for the starting goalie position, stopped 28 shots in victory.
"Garrett started a little bit nervous, I thought, but just finished outstanding," Laggis said.
Prior to the season, Laggis said Northland Pines was still the team to beat in the GNC, despite graduating a number of players from a squad that went 25-4-0 a season ago. After beating Northland Pines in its own building, Rhinelander enters the mix of several GNC squads looking to knock the Eagles from their perch.
"Why not go out and try to win a conference title? Why not try to do it this year and get yourself in that situation," he said.
"It shows we can go a long ways," added Wojtusik. "Last year we started off iffy and we got better as the year went on. Hopefully we can keep doing that and just keep getting better this year."
Rhinelander will get another stern test tonight as it welcomes Wausau West to the Rhinelander Ice Arena. The Hodags were originally scheduled to take on Antigo tonight, but that game was called off by Antigo due to COVID-19 concerns. Instead, the Hodags will take on another team with a long history of dominance.
"I don't know where they're at this year. I just know they're loaded and good, like always," Laggis said. "It's a non-conference game. It's a chance to play a really good hockey team and, you know what, we're going to grow from it, improve from it and we're going to go out and compete as hard as we can."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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