Kingsford controls rematch with Hodag hockey

The Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team had trouble slowing down Kingsford’s top line Thursday, Feb. 5 in non-conference play.

Will Murvich and Casey Clisch each recorded hat tricks, and Jake Deuter scored twice, as the Flivvers knocked off Rhinelander 9-2 in Iron Mountain, Mich. 

Kingsford scored three times in each period and outshot the Hodags 47-20 in the contest. 

“We had a lot of trouble with their first line. You take their top two players out of it, and we line up OK, but boy, their top players are definitely two speedy guys that did a lot of damage,” Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said.

Kadin Rodziczak scored both of Rhinelander’s goals, giving him five on the season to tie for the team lead in that category with line mates Jack Turek and Drake Nelson. Rodziczak scored early in the second period on an unassisted tally and 39 seconds into the third on an assist by Nelson.

“I thought the line of Jack Turek, and Kadin and Drake, I thought they played pretty decent,” Laggis said. “They created some good offensive chances. We could have scored a few more, but Kadin had a couple of really nice shots that he scored on. So I was happy to see him have a multiple-goal game and I thought the line itself played pretty solid.”

Murvich, Clisch and Deuter each scored in the first period as the Flivvers (10-12-0) took a 3-0 lead. Clisch added his second of the night just 16 seconds into the second period before Rodziczak scored 19 seconds later to make it 4-1. 

Clisch completed his hat trick at the 10:57 mark of the second and Murvich scored on a delayed penalty, assisted by goalie Nate Scullon, to make it 6-1 after two periods. 

“In the first period, we were definitely competitive and playing hard. But, you know, three little breakdowns, led to three goals, and you’re down 3-0,” Laggis said. “I thought we played awfully hard in the second period, but didn’t have much to show.”

Rodziczak made it 6-2 moments into the third, but Murvich completed his hat trick at the 1:48 mark, and the Flivvers tacked on the final two goals in the final 3:30 of the contest with scores by Jonah Doenier and Deuter.

Freshman Connor McGee made 38 saves in defeat for the Hodags. 

Rhinelander (1-20-0, 1-9-0-0 Great Northern) was set to learn its seed for the upcoming WIAA playoff matchup during a seeding meeting on Sunday that concluded after press time for this edition. The Hodags, based on their record, were likely staring at a eight-seed and an opening round matchup against top-seeded Northland Pines. 

The Hodags close out the regular season with a pair of non-conference home games at the Rhinelander Ice Arena — tonight against Shawano/Bonduel and Thursday against Chequamegon/Phillips.

“After the second period with game basically out of reach, our focus really was about trying to set the table for next week,” Laggis said. “You have two games that are definitely winnable if we play good hockey.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].