By Murray Gleffe, Correspondent
NEENAH-The Ashwaubenon Jaguars hockey team received a #5 seed in the postseason and had to take their show on the road.
Unfortunately, their season came to an end at the hands of the Fox Cities Stars by a final of 2-1 in overtime (Feb. 16).
Liam Golden tallied the only goal for the Jaguars.
The 50-mile road trip down I-41 didn’t seem to have an effect on the Jaguars early in the game as Votja Kucera got three early looks on goal.
Each one was gloved by Stars goaltender Max Gutjahr.
“I think Max is one of the best goaltenders in the state of Wisconsin,” said Jaguars Head Hockey Coach Matt Golden. “He made some tremendous saves for them when they needed it.”
Midway through the first, Golden and Tyler Roethlisberger came down ice on a 2 on 1 break and Roethlisberger just missed the net.
The hockey was physical, but the first penalty came over 10 minutes into the game against the Stars and then that was followed 34 seconds later by the same team.
It led to a 5 on 3 advantage for the Jaguars.
During that span, the Jaguars had eight shots on goal, but each opportunity was turned away by Gutjahr.
The Stars appeared to take a 1-0 lead with 3:17 left in the first when a shot found the Jaguars net, but the lead official waved it off due to a home player being in the crease area.
After the first intermission, there was no score and the Jaguars had a considerable margin (21-5) with shots on goal but had nothing to show for it.
The Stars came out of the locker room in the second period and played with a lot more energy than the Jaguars and they took a 1-0 lead with 14:41 left in the period after Jonathan Kwasny took a rebound and put it past Jaguars goaltender Matt Piontkowski.
Just two minutes later, Andrew Ohland hit the pipe for the Stars and the game remained a one score difference.
The Jaguars finally got on the scoreboard with their 27th shot of the night when Golden sent a wrister into the left part of the net beating the Stars goaltender.
The Jaguars had been outshot 12-8 in period number two, but the score was tied 1-1 heading into the third and pivotal period.
Everything was on the line in the final 17 minutes.
Win and you move on in the WIAA hockey playoffs. There was no tomorrow!
The Jaguars goaltender (Piontkowski) stoned Ben Coones with 11:28 left preserving the tie.
Coones had come down on a 3 on 1 break and at the last second Piontkowski sprawled out to make the save.
With 5:24 left in the game, the Jaguars had a golden chance of taking the lead when they caught the Stars in a line change but were called for ‘offsides’ when the right winger slipped just ahead of the line.
Both teams could not find the net down the stretch and it set up an extra eight-minute sudden death session.
The first goal would decide the outcome.
That ending (for the Jaguars) came just 45 seconds into the extra session when Ohland sent in a shot that took a funny bounce on the ice and found the back of the net for the Stars victory.
“This was my first full class with Tyler, Joe (Deboth), and Graham (Manders),” added Golden. “Its going to sting for a while knowing that this will be the last time these guys will be in a high school uniform. I am so proud of what they have accomplished in their four years.”
The Jaguars finish their season at 16-9 overall.
“We left everything we had out on the ice today,” said Jaguars Senior forward Tyler Roethlisberger. “It just wasn’t enough on this day. We had a rollercoaster of a season with the fast start to the season and then a bit of a struggle down the stretch. It doesn’t change the fact that I am so proud of these guys for the type of season we had. I never had a brother of my own, but every member of this hockey team is my family.”
Ashwaubenon/Fox Cities Box Score
Ashwaubenon 0,1,0,0-1
Fox Cities 0,1,0,1-2
Ashwaubenon/Fox Cities Shots on Goal
Ashwaubenon 21,8,8,1-38
Fox Cities 5,12,6,2-25
Goals for Ashwaubenon:
Golden
Goals for Fox Cities:
Kwasny, Ohland
