Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

After overtime time losses in the Sectional Finals in each of the last two years, the Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) boys hockey team will look to make a run to the State Tournament this season.

The Panthers (17-3-2, 7-1)  returned a veteran core from a year ago and are ranked fifth in the state, heading into the final week of the regular season.

SPASH is set to play at third-ranked Wausau West (17-3-1, 8-0) at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8, with a chance to tie for the Wisconsin Valley Conference (WVC) lead, before the Panthers close the regular season against D.C. Everest at 7:30 p.m. at K.B. Willett Arena Saturday, Feb. 9.

“The season’s going very well,” said SPASH boys hockey head coach Brandon Busse. “Unfortunately we have two losses that are in our Sectional, so that kind of hurt us, but other than that, the boys are playing well.

“We’re coming together here, and we’re just going to carry it forward into the playoffs,” he said.

SPASH junior forward Dayne Hoyord leads the Wisconsin Valley Conference with 14 goals and ranks second in the conference with 24 points this season. (John Kemmeter photo)

Following a 3-2 overtime loss to Wausau West in the 2017 Sectional Finals, SPASH lost Honorable Mention All-Wisconsin Valley Conference forward Carter Smigaj from last season’s team that finished 21-3 after a 2-1 loss in double overtime to D.C. Everest in the Sectional Finals to come up just short of a trip to state for the second year in a row.

The Panthers have been led on offense by the return of Honorable Mention All-State and First Team All-WVC junior forward Barrett Brooks, who has committed to play at NCAA Division 1 Western Michigan, along with Second Team All-WVC junior forward Dayne Hoyord and sophomore forward Trey Zagrzebski, to give SPASH three of the Top 5 scorers in the WVC this season.

“They’re probably one of the most offensively dynamic lines in the state,” said Busse. “This is the second year that they’ve played together, and we count on them a lot.”

Also contributing at forward for the Panthers have been senior captain Leo Knapp, senior Nick Norrgran, sophomore Brady Dillingham, freshman Lucca Weinkauf, sophomore Noah Spurlin, junior Will Mason, junior Gunner Zdroik, freshman Marcus Prondzinski and junior Aidan Boettcher.

“All lines are contributing, from the back end, all the way up to that top line,” said Busse. “It’s always good to get secondary scoring, and all lines are rolling, so I’m very happy with everyone.”

Leading the returnees at defensemen are Honorable Mention All-State and Second Team All-WVC junior Cole Beilke and senior captain Jake Minch, along with sophomore Austin Conley, freshman Brandon Vlcko, junior Trent Metz and junior Austin Johnson.

“Minch and Beilke are some of the top (defenders) in the state,” said Busse. “Minch is a warrior, he will get in any situation and come out with the puck, he’s blocking shots, and he’s all over the ice.

“And Cole’s very dynamic, a very quick skater, and very good defensively,” he said. “Those guys are rubbing off on everyone else on the D corps, and hopefully they can learn from them.”

Second Team All-WVC junior Spencer Wierzba returns as the starter at goalie for SPASH, while sophomore Landen Kawleski has also seen time between the pipes.

“They do very well for us, and when their name’s called upon, they show up in net,” said Busse. “They’re two very, very strong goalies in the state.”

The Panthers opened this season with six wins in a row, before a 3-2 loss at home to top-ranked Northland Pines Dec. 13.

SPASH went 6-0-1 over its next seven games, before a 2-1 loss at home to Wausau West Jan. 8, while the Panthers responded with a 4-0-1 stretch that was a capped with a 5-3 win at home over sixth-ranked Verona Jan. 26 to improve to 16-2-2 overall.

That led into SPASH’s game against Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln at K.B. Willett Arena Saturday, Feb. 2, where Brooks had a goal in the first period, and Hoyord, Norrgran and Knapp each scored in the second period to give the Panthers a 4-0 lead.

However, Rapids scored once in the second period and then added a pair of goals in the third period to pull within 4-3 with 4:06 left, before SPASH held on for the 4-3 win, as Wierzba made 18 saves in the victory.

“We played good the first two periods, and we kind of just shut it down in the third there,” said Busse. “We preach and we harp about finishing out the full 51-minute game, so obviously we’re going to have to make some adjustments and figure that out before the playoffs, so we can play a full 51, rolling into playoffs.”

The Panthers followed with a 5-2 loss at home to ninth-ranked Neenah/Hortonville/Menasha in its non-conference finale Tuesday, Feb. 5, and will look to rebound and tie for the conference lead at Wausau West Friday, after the game was pushed back a day due to snow Thursday, Feb. 7.

“They took the first game on us, but to win this game would be huge for us,” said Busse. “We split the Conference Championship the last two years, so hopefully we can come out with a win.”

SPASH is set to close the regular season at home against Everest Saturday night before the postseason begins next week, after the Panthers received the third seed in their Sectional, behind top-seeded Wausau West and second-seeded Northland Pines.

After an opening-round bye, SPASH will host the winner of sixth-seeded Rhinelander/Three Lakes and 11th-seeded Merrill/Wausau East in the Regional Finals at 7 p.m. at K.B. Willett Arena Thursday, Feb. 14.

The winner will move on to play either Northland Pines, seventh-seeded Lakeland/Mercer or the 10th-seeded Pacelli Co-op in the Sectional Semifinals Tuesday, Feb. 19, with the Sectional Final set for the South Wood County Recreation Center in Wisconsin Rapids at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23.

“We’re going to play with a chip on our shoulder, just because we’ve come so close the last two years, and we really want to ultimately make it down to the State Tournament and perform,” said Busse. “We’ll take it one game at a time, but the ultimate goal obviously is to make it down to Madison.”