February 23, 2023 at 7:38 a.m.
Hodag hockey falls short in sectional semifinals
Mosinee scored two unanswered goals in the final 10:15 of regulation Tuesday and skated past the Hodags 3-1 in a WIAA D2 sectional semifinal.
Mosinee (17-6-0), the predetermined sectional final host, will face top-seeded Lakeland on Saturday while a strong season for the Hodags came to an end with a 18-6 record.
"You've got a group of seniors that just gave everything that they had all year long and were incredibly durable and reliable and wanted to win game in and game out," coach M.J. Laggis said. "It doesn't make it any easier tonight, but the fact of the matter is they won 18 hockey games this year, that's more than respectable, 18-6 after tonight and they've won more hockey games than anyone in this program has ever won in a four-year career, those seniors did. That's something to hang your hat on. You always want to get further in the end."
Mosinee senior Caden Schmirler, one of the leading scorers in the state of Wisconsin, tallied his 46th goal of the year, which proved to be the game-winner 6:45 into the final period. Seemingly surrounded by a group of four Hodag players, Schmirler somehow managed to get off a shot from just inside the Hodag blue line that snuck underneath the crossbar and goaltender Tyler Kimmerling, breaking a 1-1 tie.
"We kept him at bay most of the night. We kept him in front of us. We were running the 1-2-2 in neutral ice and we ran it OK," Laggis said. "Schmirler made a play right there and tucked one home. You got to give them credit there. They're skilled. I'll say that about them. They've got skill."
The Hodags, again without leading scorer Joey Belanger (hand) struggled to come back, outshot 10-5 in the third period. Mosinee won a battle for the puck along the boards with just under two minutes to play. Spencer Swiderski came free with the puck, and lifted a shot into the top left corner of the goal on Kimmerling's stick side.
Rhinelander pulled Kimmerling with 1:35 remaining, but could not generate anything with the extra attacker. A slashing penalty on Finn Tulowitzky with 23 seconds remaining but Kimmerling back in net and effectively ended the Hodags' last-ditch comeback bid.
The Hodags, who played much of the night with two lines and three defensemen, were simply gassed down the stretch.
"We were out of gas," Laggis said. "We were trying to match lines. We wanted to play our third line way more tonight but, with people out sick and all the issues there we had kids that weren't on the ice for a while practicing. They ran a short bench. We ran a short bench.
"We did the best we could with what we had."
Mosinee took the lead 5:35 into the opening period as Daniel DuClauwe got free near the left faceoff dot following a sustained forecheck and tucked a shot past Kimmerling and under the crossbar.
From there Rhinelander had a plethora of chances but was unable to capitalize. Leo Losch got free on a short-handed chance at the end of a Mosinee power play midway through the first period and tried to go to his backhand, but was denied by goalie Aiden Karst. Senior AJ Turek had almost an identical look after turning over Ethan Denesha in the Mosinee zone, but was also stonewalled. Gavin Denis later had a look on a 2-on-1 that rang off the crossbar and caromed high, out of play.
Losch had a point-blank chance and a rebound opportunity on a power play early in the second period. The first was stopped by Karst. The rebound missed high.
"If we tuck some puck home, some of those early chances in the first, it looks a whole lot different, but we didn't," Laggis said. "No discredit to those kids, they're giving everything they have in that moment for sure, but those are the pucks you've got to find one or two of them to go your way to win that kind of a hockey game."
Rhinelander finally did tie it up moments after a penalty ended midway through the second as Tulowitzky found a rebound off a chance by Losch.
Mosinee finished the night with a 31-26 edge in shots on goal. Karst stopped 25 pucks in the win while Kimmerling made 28 saves in defeat.
This year's Hodag seniors finished 63-34-0 in a high school career that included four straight trips to the sectional semifinals, a Great Northern Conference title in 2021 and a trip to the sectional finals that same year.
"It was a nice group of talented seniors that brought a lot to the table," Laggis said. "You always want more in the end, but I'm proud of those guys as a group. I thought they did an outstanding job this year."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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