USM 7 vs JANESVILLE CO-OP 5

     In a high scoring hockey game at University School Saturday afternoon, University Shool outlasted the Janesville Co-op team 7-5.

     Janesville started the scoring early in the first period.  Sophomore Brad Money got the puck at the USM blue line and fired a shot.  Senior Joe Allen skated uninterrupted out from the corner in time to tip the puck past USM’s junior goaltender Alex Langer at 1:04.

    USM tied it up soon thereafter.  In center ice, USM sophomore Ashton Wackym passed the puck to junior Aaron Storch moving down the left side.  Storch skated into the Janesville end, and from the circle, he gunned a low shot past Janesville’s freshman goalie Tyler Lewis at 2:57.

    USM went ahead at 12:06 of the first period on a power play.  Sophomore Nathan Burke shot the puck hard into the Janesville zone.  Wackym moved in and got it in the right corner and slung it toward the crease.  Junior Ian Palin battled for it and pulled it out of the scrum to the left.  He swatted it toward the net, and it flew past Lewis for a goal.

    Early in the second period USM scored a shorthanded goal to make the score 3-1.  Senior Alex Tesensky picked off a Janesville pas in the USM net and took off down the right boards.  He stickhandled behind Janesville’s net and centered a short pass to junior Simon Leahy who had sprinted into the slot.  Leahy banged the puck in at 3:48.

     The teams exchange several goals in a short amount of time in the middle of the period.

Janeville got the first of the flurry at 11:04 on a power play.  In the USM zone Junior Cody Stettin passed the puck out to the sophomore Cody Iverson at the left point. Iverson sent it in across ice to sophomore Ron Lindgren in the low circle.  Lindgren fired a hard one-timer past Langer to make it 3-2.

   23 seconds after that Janesville tied it.  In the USM zone, senior Ryan Shelton moved the puck to Allen who was below the goal line.  Allen sent a quick pass in front to junior Sean MacDougall who was all-alone in the slot.  MacDougall one-timed a shot into the net.

  Just ten seconds later USM moved ahead 4-3.  Leahy got the puck in the center ice and at the Janesville blue line, he chipped it over to Tesensky who was racing to catch up.  Tesensky moved into the slot and blazed a shot over Lewis’s blocker.

   Janesville evened the score once more a little over a minute later.  Allen skated to the puck behind the USM net, got it, and whipped it out front.  MacDougall skated through the circle unimpeded, received the pass, and rifled in a low shot at 12:56.

    The game was tied 4-4 at the end of the second and at the point it looked like it was anybody’s game.  The Wildcats, however, weren’t about to let the Bluebirds fly away with a victory.  USM tightened its defense and took control of play in the final period. 

    The Wildcats went back ahead at 7:00 of the third period on a picture-perfect power play.  The Wildcats began passing the puck around the Bluebirds’ zone waiting for their opportunity to score.  Leahy sent it junior Zach Hafeman at the point.  Hafeman passed it in to Tesensky along the mid boards.  Tesensky sent it deep in the corner to Storch, who sent it right back to Tesensky.  Tesnesky then crossed a pass to Leahy on the far side.  Leahy moved into the right circle and wristed a quick shot past Lewis who was screened by USM senior Charlie James.

    Janesville took only 2 shots on net in the period, but one went in to tie the score at 5-5.  From the USM side-boards, Shelton got the puck to Lindgren skating unbothered into the slot.  Lindgren lined a shot past Langer at 9:27.

     USM went ahead to stay at 13:50.  Wackym out-battled some defenders for the puck in the left circle and fired it to sophomore Corey Roadhouse in front of the Janesville net.  Roadhouse shot it. The puck bounced off of Lewis’s stick and popped over his head, Then, like a helicopter making a landing, it hovered down behind him and over the goal ine.

    USM added another goal on a power play to insure their victory.  Leahy got the puck in the USM end and skated with it into the Janesville zone.  As he approached the net he shot it toward Lewis.  The rebound dropped at the goalie’s feet, and Storch, who was trailing the play, knocked it in at 15:18.

   In the game Lewis made 23 saves while Langer made 15.

   Janesville is now 8-7.  The Bluebirds play Madison West in Janesville on Tuesday, January 26 at 5:30 p.m.  USM improved its record to 4-7-2.  The Wildcats host the Germantown Co-op on Tuesday, January 19 at 7:00.