Pacelli pulls away late against Hodag hockey

For the second time this season, the Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team saw Stevens Point Pacelli pull away late in a contest as the Cardinals rode to a 9-2 victory Thursday night at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.

It was a 5-2 game in the third period, however the Hodags gave up four goals over the final seven minutes of the contest. 

“We did have some good power play looks. We did have one really nice point blank chance. We had some opportunities,” Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said. “In the third period, we were able to make it 5-2. And when it was 5-2, we had another good look and almost made it 5-3. It’s like, if you could get one of those to go, it feels different and looks different, but we’re just unable to.”

Pacelli’s Payton Ledocq and Caleb McGregor did most of the damage for the Cardinals. Ledocq scored four goals in the contest, McGregor added two more and the two combined for nine points overall on the evening. 

“They get a lot of speed going up ice. And they have two or three forwards — two probably in particular — that we don’t match up well with speed,” Laggis noted. “Those guys get loose on us and that usually causes trouble with us. Both games it caused quite a bit of trouble.”

McGregor scored on the opening shift for Pacelli, just 45 seconds into the contest and that lead held until a Ledocq power play goal with 20 seconds remaining in the first. Matthew Constantineau added another goal with the man advantage 2:35 into the second as the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead. 

As they were in the first meeting, penalties loomed large for Rhinelander against a physical Pacelli team. Rhinelander spent 18 minutes in the box after committing nine infractions in the contest — eight of those taking place over the first two periods. The Hodags served 23 minutes on 10 penalties when the teams met Jan. 2 in Stevens Point. 

“We know how Pacelli plays. They are physical. They’re gonna do stuff. They’re going to rub you a little bit from behind. They’re gonna talk. They’re going to do things. And if you don’t respond to that, just play on, play hockey, and just keep your composure completely, you could get the penalty battle to go your way. But we have not been successful in doing that the last two times with them,” Laggis said. “We did have some penalties that were saving a goal and, just an inadvertent trip that you’re just playing hockey, but we also had a few that just we can’t have to win.”

    Rhinelander’s CJ Sparks reaches to knock the puck away from Pacelli’s Noah Hasler during the first period of a non-conference boys’ hockey game at the Rhinelander Ice Arena Thursday, Jan. 22. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Drake Nelson put the Hodags on the board with a goal in traffic 8:56 into the second, but Ledocq scored another late-period goal to give Pacelli a 4-1 lead after two periods. Zane Phillis made it 5-1 1:59 into the third before freshman CJ Sparks scored his second career goal, and the Hodags’ first short-handed goal of the year, at the 7:08 mark of the third. Jack Turek won an offensive zone faceoff to Sparks for a one-timer off the inside of the circle.

“CJ is a newcomer to the program, and he’s a really good kid that works,” Laggis said. “We really enjoy having him, and, I’ll tell you, he’s had some looks this year, and he buried one right there. So I was really happy for that. And it was a momentum moment of the game too.”

The Hodags nearly 5-3 as freshman Carsen Zadnik was denied on a breakaway chance moments later before the floodgates opened for the Cardinals. Ledocq scored twice more and the Cardinals also got goals from McGregor and Tyler Kluck in a 2 1/2-minute span between the 11:56 and 14:24 marks of the third. 

Pacelli outshot Rhinelander 56-26 in the contest. Freshman goalie Connor McGee made 47 saves in the loss for the Hodags. 

Rhinelander (1-15-0, 1-7-0-0 Great Northern) hosts Antigo tonight in the second round of Great Northern Conference play. The Robins took the first meeting 6-2 in Antigo back on Dec. 16. 

“Antigo was a game that we were able to keep close for a while, and it got away,” Laggis said. “We know that we got to have a good practice. we’re off for a few days here now, unfortunately, with the weather. So, got to have a good practice and try to get ready to try to battle them and make plays.”

Face-off for tonight’s game will be a fuzz later than normal, with the puck scheduled to drop at 7:15 p.m.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].