By Murray Gleffe, Correspondent
SHEBOYGAN-The Ashwaubenon Jaguar hockey team won two of three games down at the Kyle J. Neurohr Memorial Tournament en route to a 3rd place finish.
On Sunday, Nov. 26, the Jaguars defeated the Kenosha Thunder by a final of 3-0.
“I was very happy how all the new faces played in the last three days,” says Matt Golden, Ashwaubenon Jaguar Hockey Coach. “To come and win two out of three games gives us confidence now heading into the bulk of our schedule.”
Liam Golden, Vojta Kucera, and Parker Dorn all tallied goals for the Jaguars.
Jaguar goaltender Matt Piontkowski made 17 saves and preserved the shutout versus the Thunder.
After dropping a heartbreaker to the Panthers (Oregon) the day before, the Jaguars showed no ill-effects at the start of the game.
Somehow, the Thunder committed a holding penalty just six seconds into the contest.
With the power play on, the Jaguars dominated the offensive end and got three quick shots off within the first minute on Thunder goaltender Joseph Laforge.
None made it through the net, but the Jaguars had set the tone that they were going to be pushing the offensive parameter every chance they got.
Finally, with just seconds remaining on the man advantage, Jaguar defenseman Kucera popped in a goal from just outside the crease putting them up 1-0.
The Jaguars continued to pepper the nets and even when they were a man down, there was no real serious threat of an attack by the Thunder.
Just before the 1st intermission, Jaguar forward Golden took a puck from inside the blue line and went top shelf on Laforge to give the Jaguars a 2-0 advantage heading into the locker room.
At the 12:31 mark of the second period, it appeared the Jaguars had knocked in another goal, but the lead official waved off Jaguar forward Tyler Roethlisberger’s goal saying it did not cross the line.
It didn’t matter. The Jaguars netted that third goal just 55 seconds later when Jaguar defensemen Dorn was the proud recipient of a deflected puck that came out to him. He was all alone, and he slapped home the goal giving the Jaguars a 3-0 lead with 11:36 remaining in the middle stanza.
Neither team could muster any momentum the rest of the period, and the Jaguars took a three- goal lead into the final 17 minutes.
“I felt like we played outstanding hockey in getting that three-goal lead,” added Golden. “However, the kids then let up a bit and we didn’t generate much in the final period.”
The dominance shown by the Jaguars through the first 34 minutes of the game, was put to the test the final 17 minutes of the game by bad penalties.
The Jaguars had killed off an earlier 5 on 3 advantage by the Thunder, when they got stuck in a line change. However, in the last period, the Jaguars kept making mistake after mistake that was on them.
Fortunately, for the Jaguars, the Thunder were unable to capitalize on either one of the power plays in the final six minutes of the game, and the Jaguars went on to get the victory and extend their record to 2-1 on the young season.
“We need to be more disciplined and maintain our composure for 51 minutes,” says Golden. “We didn’t play clean hockey down the stretch, but we can fix that part of it. Overall, I’m very pleased leaving Sheboygan with a winning record, and a 3rd place trophy.”
Ashwaubenon/Kenosha Box Score
Ashwaubenon 2, 1, 0 3
Kenosha 0, 0, 0 0
(Ashwaubenon Goals-Kucera, Golden, Dorn)
Ashwaubenon/Kenosha Shots on Goal
Ashwaubenon 15, 9, 5 29
Kenosha 6, 6, 5 17
