Tritons secure runner-up place at State Tournament

MIDDLETON — After a successful season and a hard-fought battle, the Notre Dame Academy Tritons (19-9) secured a second place finish at the WIAA boys hockey State Tournament, falling 5-2 to the Madison Edgewood Crusaders (23-6). 

“I thought Edgewood did a really good job setting the pace early in the first period. They’re a good team. When you win 17 straight games, there’s a reason for it,” said Tritons Head Coach Mike Szkodzinski. 

“The puck didn’t happen to go in for us tonight, and it stings.” 

Several close calls early on forced the defending State champ Tritons to recognize the battle ahead of them from the Crusaders. 

Just 3 minutes into the game, a Crusaders shot made it past Triton keeper Anton Widas, but luck was on the Tritons’ side as the puck stopped inches before clearing the goal line and was sent out of the danger zone by Captain Nathan Antti. 

 “I’m super proud of our team this year,” said Antti. 

“We had a good run. We played two very hard teams this year to get here.” 

Owen Atkinson’s early power play goal put the Tritons out front with 13:05 remaining in the first period. 

Shortly after, a Triton broken stick chased chaos by net but Notre Dame survived as Widas held strong in the net.

A strong offensive press by the Crusaders had the Tritons battling on defense to retain their lead through much of the first period. 

Widas stayed strong in the net facing several shots 10 minutes into the game. 

However, a shot by the Crusaders’ Owen Koch from close range bested Widas and rifled into the back of the net for the equalizer with just 1:33 remaining in the first period. 

A competitive matchup, the game continued into the second period with an unassisted go-ahead goal from the Crusaders’ Davis Halbleib on a breakaway just 2 minutes into play. 

Widas saw another 1v1 immediately after as the Tritons defense scrambled to recover, but was able to keep the shot out of the net. 

The Tritons continued with their offensive press, gaining several opportunities in front of the net but struggling to finish at the hands of a tireless Crusader defensive line. 

A shot and a 1v1 opportunity by Ian Aitken with just under 6 minutes of play in the period let the Crusaders know the Tritons were still in the game and on the hunt to defend their title. 

Atkinson of the Tritons kept the high stakes game physical — yet, his 2 minute roughing penalty sent the Crusaders on a power play that would put them out in front. 

With 50 seconds remaining on the power play, Thomas lost his stick and the power play proved detrimental to the Tritons as they would face several shots over the next few seconds, one by Owen Porter resulting in a goal and a 2 goal deficit for the Tritons. 

The score remained 3-1 at the end of the second period. 

“We always get doubted that the year after (a State title) we’re not going to be as good. We play a hard schedule, so our record may not look as good, but we’re a playoff team. We develop over the season and we peak at the right times. I’m just proud of our team and how we stuck it out and just kept going,” said Thomas. 

In a deflating moment for the Tritons, another goal by the Crusaders’ Koch with 13:36 on the clock now put them down by 3 as the score turned 4-1. 

In a final offensive press, the Tritons pulled Widas out of the net with 3:30 on the clock. 

Crusaders Forward Halbleib was sent to the penalty box for holding, resulting in a power play goal 14 seconds later by Andrew Ostermann, assisted by Drew Heil and Atkinson. 

A 4-2 score seemed promising, but with just 1:24 left in the game, the Crusaders lengthened their lead to 5-2 with another Halbleib goal. 

Heil had an opportunity to lessen the lead when a scramble in front of the net led to a defensive crease infraction, awarding him a penalty shot, but was not able to find the back of the net. 

The Crusaders held strong for the final 48 seconds to secure the 5-2 win over the Notre Dame Academy Tritons. 

“I think the definition of character is how you bounce back from things when they don’t go your way, and it didn’t go our way today. It’s not from a lack of effort. It’s not from a lack of care or passion. It just didn’t go our way. I mean — this is a sport. This happens. What matters is how we bounce back,” said Szkodzinski. 

The Tritons were ultimately outshot 29-26. 

Widas and Crusaders Goalie Hayden Reuhl each had 24 saves on the night.