Three Champions Crowned at State Hockey Tournament: Central WI Storm, Notre Dame, St. Maryś Springs

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Three Champions Crowned at State Hockey Tournament

MIDDLETON, Wis. – Two boys teams and a girls teams earned titles at the 2024 State Hockey Tournaments at Bob Suter’s Capitol Ice Arena Saturday.

Second-seeded Notre Dame (19-8-1) won its second straight Division 1 championship with a 3-1 victory over the fourth-seeded Brookfield East/Brookfield Central/Hamilton/Menomonee Falls/Wauwatosa East/Wauwatosa West co-op.

After a scoreless first period, the Tritons netted a pair of scores within a two-minute span in the second period. Joseph Coghlin scored at the 11:44 point in the period with an assist to Wyatt Herres. Bryce Dahl gave Notre Dame a 2-0 lead at 13:42 with a goal assisted by Coghlin and Andrew Ostermann.

With 38 seconds to play in the third period and the Stars’ goalie pulled from the net, they scored with the extra skater on a goal by Harrison Kennedy, assisted by Colin Masek and Cooper Simon to pull within a goal at 2-1. However, Coghlin scored his second goal of the game when his shot from the Tritons’ zone entered an empty net with 11 seconds to play to provide the Tritons with the winning margin.

Notre Dame had a 28-17 advantage in shots on goal in the game. Coghlin led the Tritons with six shots on goal, and Preston Slater and Cooper Simon led the Stars with four apiece. Lleyton Jaschke was credited with the win in goal, making 16 saves for the Tritons. Augustus Jones made 25 stops for the Stars.

The Tritons have now won three State titles in their 11 appearances at State, and the Stars finished runner-up in their first State experience with this configuration of the co-op.

Second-seeded St. Mary’s Springs won the Division 2 championship with a 6-2 victory over the top seed and former defending champion New Richmond in the title game.

The Ledgers scored first on a power-play goal by Will Stellmacher, assisted by Preston Flood and Teigue Wagner at the 4:48 mark of the first period. The Tigers tied the score with a goal by Bjorn Bahneman at 12:15 of the first period. Both Steven Chapman and Matthew Unger were credited with an assist.

St. Mary’s Springs took control of the game in the second period with three goals in a span of a couple of minutes. Austin Westergaard began the barrage with a short-handed goal assisted by Armani Fisher at 8:17. Gabe Braun added a goal with assists by Quinn McLaughlin and Isaac Sabel at 9:53, and Sabel added an unassisted goal less than a minute later at 10:24 to five the Ledgers a 4-1 lead.

The Ledgers scored their fourth unanswered goal early in the third period with a score by Fisher assisted by Sabel at 3:19. The Tigers scored on a goal by Brody Jackson from Jameson Unger to cut the deficit to 5-2, but Westergaard added an insurance goal for the Ledgers at 14:41 to cap the scoring.

The Tigers outshot the Ledgers 43-26 in the game, but were scoreless in seven power-play opportunities.

Braun led all players with a game-high 10 shots on goal for the Ledgers. Bahneman and Zalin Sweet led the Tigers with seven shots apiece. In goal, Brendan Gaertig was credited with the victory with 41 saves, which ranks second-most in Division 2 State Tournament history. Ryan McGillis made 20 saves in goal for the Tigers.

The Ledgers won their third State championship in their fourth State appearance as a stand-alone program. The Tigers finish runner-up in their sixth State experience.

D.C. Everest/Marathon/Merrill/Mosinee/Wausau East/Wausau West co-op, the top seed in the bracket, won the girls championship with a 4-3 triumph over the former defending champion De Pere/Ashwaubenon/Bay Port/Green Bay East/Green Bay Preble/Green Bay Southwest/Green Bay West/Notre Dame/Pulaski/Seymour/West De Pere co-op.

After a scoreless first period, the Bay Area Ice Bears took their only lead in the game at 4:04 of the second period on a power-play goal by Addison Dahl with an assist from Julianne Bradford.

The Central Wisconsin Storm knotted the game at 1-1 on a power-play goal by Tristan Wicklund at 5:11 into the period, assisted by Sophie Bohlin and Gabi Heuser.

The D.C. Everest co-op scored twice in the first few minutes of a high-scoring third period. After Ava Whitmore gave the Storm a 2-1 lead with an unassisted goal at 1:26 elapsed in the period, Wickland added her second goal of the game with an assist from Bohlin at 4:13.

The Ice Bears drew to within a goal at the 7:47 mark of the third period with an unassisted power-play goal by Faye Brunke, but Bohlin expanded the Storm’s lead to 4-2 with two minutes to play in the game with a score assisted by Taylor Freidel.

With an extra skater, the Ice Bears cut their deficit to one at 4-3 with 58 seconds to play with an unassisted goal by Hannah VonHaden, but time expired on the De Pere co-op comeback.

The Ice Bears compiled a 31-19 advantage in shots on goal, led by Ava McDonald and Brunke with seven each. Heuser led the Storm with six shots on target. Claire Calmes recorded the win in goal for the D.C. Everest co-op with 28 saves, and Parker Bartholomaus made 15 stops for the De Pere co-op.

The current configuration of the D.C. Everest co-op won its second championship in the past three years. The Storm has won three other titles with a different set of teams in the co-op. The De Pere co-op finishes runner-up in its fourth State experience with the same set of schools in the co-op.

 

Boys Results & Statistics
Girls Results & Statistics

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David Keech
Author: David Keech

David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]