BY MURRAY GLEFFE
CORRESPONDENT
ASHWAUBENON – Parker Besaw made 16 saves in net as the Ashwaubenon hockey team defeated the Brookfield Stars 6-1 at the Cornerstone Community Ice Center, Dec. 1.
Joey Hamielec and Kole Altergott each had two goals apiece for the Jaguars, while Liam Golden and Cooper Routheau tallied one each.
Both teams combined for 11 penalties and 28 minutes of infractions.
The Jaguars were 4-4 on the power play and the Stars 0-7.
The Stars started strong, playing offensive hockey the first 5 minutes of the game, which created a multitude of scoring chances. They were unsuccessful in converting due to the sharp goaltending of Besaw.
With 8:50 remaining in the opening period, Hamielec tallied the first goal off a rebound that got past Stars’ goaltender, Malcolm Jennings.
Besaw stayed strong despite the Jaguars giving up three opening-period penalties.
“We were very fortunate to be up a goal through the first 17 minutes,” said Ashwaubenon head coach Matt Golden. “We weren’t very disciplined but fortunately Parker made some key saves for us.”
No team could generate any momentum to start the second stanza.
That changed with just under 12 minutes left.
Ashwaubenon’s Riley Nissen took the puck near center ice and sent a cross to Altergott, who wristed in a goal to give the Jaguars a 2-0 lead.
“Kole has given us a big lift in 2018,” said Golden. “He has good speed and plays the entire 51 minutes of a game.”
With just over four minutes left in the middle period, Brookfield made a fatal mistake that would cost them dearly.
Leading scorer Parker Esswein was called for a five-minute major cross-checking penalty for railing a Jaguars player into the boards.
When the dust had settled, the Jaguars had tallied two additional second period and one early third-period goals to take an insurmountable 5-0 lead.
“I thought we came alive a bit late,” Golden said about his team. “We weren’t doing a lot of things right and then the five-minute penalty happened, and we took full advantage of it.”
Each team added a goal late to provide the final margin.
Ashwaubenon improved to 2-3 on the season and will travel to D.C. Everest Dec. 4 before returning to Cornerstone to take on rival Bay Port Dec. 6 in a key Fox River Classic Conference tilt.
“We have a big week of hockey with four games,” added Golden. “We need to play a complete game versus Bay Port in particular. Emotions I’m sure will be high but usually, the team that plays the smartest comes out on top.”
Box score
Brookfield: 0, 0, 1 – 1
Ashwaubenon: 1, 3, 2 – 6
Shots on goal
Brookfield: 6, 6, 6 – 18
Ashwaubenon: 3, 12, 8 – 23
