Waukesha heads to semis

Down, 2-0, Wings score four straight

Special to the Journal Sentinel

Madison — What? Waukesha worry?

In order to make their debut in the state hockey tournament, the Wings had to erase a one-goal deficit in the final 2 ½ minutes Saturday to beat Janesville in a sectional final.

So on Thursday night, there was no panic when Waukesha trailed Madison Edgewood, 2-0, midway through the second period of a state quarterfinal game at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“It was similar to the last game where if you come up with enough good opportunities that eventually some of them are going to start to go,” Waukesha coach Raja Aylsworth said. “So no, we weren’t worried at that point.”

Waukesha, ranked seventh in the state, scored the final four goals to defeat No. 6 Edgewood, 4-2, to advance to a semifinal game at approximately 7:15 p.m. Friday against No. 3 Hudson.

“When we’re down like that, it doesn’t bother us,” said Waukesha sophomore Joziah Dietrich, who scored the go-ahead goal. “We know we can come back and we’ll do whatever we need to do to win.”

Freshman goalie Garret Larsen finished with 24 saves for Waukesha (23-3-2), which won its 11th straight game. Edgewood (19-6-3) had won its previous seven games by scoring at least four goals in each contest but was denied in its quest to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2008.

With the score tied, 2-2, midway through the third period, Waukesha won a faceoff in the left circle of the Edgewood zone and the puck slid to Jacob Berry at the left point.

With two Edgewood players a few feet away in front of him, another one standing next to Berry’s teammate at the left side of the slot and Dietrich in front of the crease, Berry rifled the puck toward the net.

“I was definitely shooting for a tip on that one,” Berry said. “That’s not a shot that you would expect to go straight in unless you’re getting a nice screen. Props to the guys in front of the net for getting in front of (the goalie) and getting a stick on the puck there.”

Dietrich says it was a set play and his job is to crash the net and “look for what’s coming.”

Somehow the puck found its way to his stick planted on the ice, and he deflected it past goalie Tommy Mohs for a 3-2 lead with 9 minutes 17 seconds left in the third period.

Dietrich didn’t even see the puck hit his stick.

“I just saw it in the back of the net, which was a thrill for me,” he said. “We practice tips so much at practice that I’m just used to the puck coming right there. If I can’t see it, I just hope it hits me.”

Waukesha made it 4-2 on a goal by Wyatt Wilderman with 5:30 to go.

The turning point, however, was when the Wings erased a 2-0 deficit by scoring twice in the final 2:04 of the second period.

“They were big,” Aylsworth said. “When we scored the first one, I thought, ‘OK, great, at least we’re even for the period’ because they had gotten one earlier in the period. And then when you pop that second one, geez, it’s like a one-period season.”

Carter Schuett, Walter Brose, Aaron Squires and Bradley Jacobson scored for the Raiders (24-4), who have allowed only four goals in winning their last nine games. Competing in their first state tournament since winning the 2004 crown, they also got 17 saves from Anthony Howard.

The fifth-ranked Hilltoppers (24-4) had won their previous nine games but failed to score at least three goals for just the third time this season.