February 20, 2023 at 9:35 a.m.
Hodag hockey outlasts Antigo in OT
Sectional semifinal at Mosinee ahead
Hodag hockey outlasts Antigo in OT
The two connected on a goal 2 minutes, 10 seconds into overtime that gave Rhinelander a 2-1 victory over Antigo in a WIAA Division 2 regional final contest on Thursday night.
After intercepting a puck at the Hodag blue line, Schneider led a 3-on-2 rush into the Robins' zone and dished it back late to Losch who was open at the top of the crease for a one-timer that beat Antigo goalie Nolan Bunnell top-shelf, glove side, sending a packed RIA into delirium.
"We wanted to end on a good note and that was a really fun way to go out," Losch said. "It speaks exactly of us. We didn't have it right away. It wasn't going to be easy to work for and we had to grind for it."
It was far from easy for the Hodags (18-5-0). Rhinelander played without leading scorer Joey Belanger, who injured his hand in last Saturday's GNC tournament game against the Robins. Rhinelander was also down a couple of other forwards and moved defenseman Dalton Fritz up to the front line. Rhinelander played much of the night with eight forwards and three defenseman.
"Having Joey out is definitely difficult but we couldn't do anything about it. You have to overcome adversity and that's exactly what we did," Losch said. "Overall, it was a really great team win."
It was Rhinelander's 18th win of the season, matching last year's squad for the most wins in program history.
"That's really nice accomplishment to feel that for these guys," Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said. "I think maybe 20 years ago I may be beating my chest and (saying), 'look at me,' but today I feel nothing put humility and being grateful for being able to coach here."
"I'm proud of our guys. A playoff win is hard to come by. When you're playing Antigo in your building, you know it's going to come right down to that in a playoff game. You know it," Laggis added.
Antigo (10-15-0) struck first in the battle of GNC rivals. After a scoreless first period Eli Kassler, Antigo's leading scorer, put the Robins on the board 9:13 into the second period as he tipped in a Paden Michalik shot from the point.
Rhinelander answered with junior Gavin Denis just over four minutes later. Denis got free along the boards at neutral ice, creating a 2-on-1 chance, and flipped one over Bunnell to tie the game.
"Gav had one. He could have had three tonight," Laggis said. "He was really playing fast and hard. There's a guy, as a junior, he didn't get a sniff of a vote for all-conference but I tell you what, if you were telling me I could pick six forwards in the conference to start my team, he's one of them, for sure. He doesn't quit. He doesn't get rattled. He plays through hits."
Neither team was able to capitalize on their lone power play chance in the third period. The Hodags were unable to get past Bunnell after Landon Nelson was taken for a tripping call to prevent an odd-man rush at the 5:51 mark of the third. Rhinelander was whistled for too many men on the ice with 1:07 left in regulation, but was able to kill that penalty and then win it momentum later in overtime.
"We turned it over on the bench and hit the reset button (and said), 'We're going to have a great penalty kill. Let's use it as a momentum builder.' We did a great job in that (kill)," Laggis said.
The Hodags outshot the Robins 35-24 in the contest. Tyler Kimmerling made 23 saves in the win, including a few huge stops down the stretch on screened Antigo looks and point-blank Robin chances.
"We gave up some good looks and Kimmy held us right in there," Laggis said. "Frankly, he made some really nice saves down the stretch and kept us in there. He really played like a junior tonight. He played with some experience and moxie back there and he's going to have to continue that."
Now attention turns to the sectional semifinals where Rhinelander and Mosinee will meet again. Mosinee has defeated Rhinelander four straight times going back to last season, including a blowout 7-1 decision in last year's sectional semifinals.
Even faced with the possibility of being couple of players down - Laggis didn't rule out Belanger, but the junior's prospects of playing did not look promising as of Thursday night - the Hodags hope they have a plan to flip the script and reach their second sectional final in three years.
"We've got to get healthy. We've got to find a way to get healthy here," Laggis said. "At the end of the day, we'll make the best plan that we can. We're going to try to be as fresh as we can at Mosinee. There are some things we've really got to try to target to take their offense away."
Added Losch "We've got to come in there confident and not play scared, not play down. We got to play as high of a level as we can."
Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. tonight at the Mosinee Rec Center.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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