University School gets overpowered
Failure on early power plays crucial
Special to the Journal Sentinel
Madison — The shots were coming at a rate of more than one per minute. It had to seem like the goals were, too.
The Appleton co-op boys hockey team finished with 48 shots – only five in the final period because of a running clock – and scored six times in the first two periods to beat University School, 6-0, in a state quarterfinal game Thursday afternoon at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
“It wasn’t about the number of shots; we got a little outmatched there,” said University School goalie Mac Schmidt, whose 42 saves were six shy of tying the record for most in a state tournament game. “We knew they were a good team and had some good firepower. . . . Maybe we weren’t ready for it.”
University School, ranked eighth in the state, allowed a season high for goals and finished with a 19-7-2 record after participating in its second tournament in three years. The Wildcats also lost to the United, 4-1, on Jan. 16.
“Going into the game, you never think it’s going to be 6-0,” University School’s Logan Geisness said. “We’re going in thinking we can hang with them. Obviously they’re one of the best teams in the state and we’re going in with the mind-set thinking we can hang with these guys. And then just to get dominated like that.
“They controlled the puck in our zone the whole time, put everything on net. You’ve got to give props to Appleton, they’re a great team and it was just their day. They just came in buzzing.”
Second-ranked Appleton (25-2), which lost in the quarterfinals last year, is in the semifinals for the first time since 2008. The team will face No. 1 Eau Claire Memorial at 5 p.m. Friday having scored at least five goals in its last six games.
“It’s unreal,” said Lucas McKinnon, who had a hat trick. “We were rolling. I thought for sure it was going to be a tougher battle, but I knew we came ready to play. We came out fast right away and didn’t let up.”
Appleton took a 2-0 lead in the first period on power-play goals by Trenton Bliss, who Wednesday was named the state player of the year, and Connor Zilisch.
University School went on a power play with 2:20 left in the first and another with16:19 left in the second but failed to take advantage.
The United then responded with four more goals in a span of 9:27 to give the Wildcats their most lopsided loss of the season.
“We started tentative and nervous, and then they just pressure you so hard and we made a couple of mistakes early,” said first-year University School coach Jason Woods. “We talked about staying out of the box and weren’t able to do that in the first period. The first period, honestly, you play 5-on-5, it’s 0-0. We just weren’t able to kill those penalties.
“If you get to 2-1 (by scoring on the power play) then you feel good about yourself. Or you don’t even get the two penalties and you’re 0-0 after the first, things are totally different.
“But you’re down, 2-0, against a really highly ranked team and obviously talented team. It’s tough to crawl out of that hole. Even though you’re saying the right things in the locker room, I think that they knew the hole was really deep at that point. And then it just caved in.” since claiming the 2013 title and has allowed a total of four goals in winning its last five games. No. 4 Antigo (23-4-1), at state for the first time since 2005, equaled a season high with five goals allowed.