Tomahawk and Mosinee appeared to be two teams heading in opposite directions heading into last Thursday’s WIAA regional final at SARA Park.
Mosinee had opened the season on a 9-2 run before plummeting to 11-10, while the Hatchets had started 4-6, then ripped off a 13-game victory streak.
But 6th-seeded Mosinee jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Thursday and held on for its second consecutive playoff win, by a 4-2 tally.
Mosinee scored three times in the opening 8:18, twice from Bryce Hladovcak. Matt Gerber broke the Hatchet ice with 8:18 elapsed (A-Stefan Ungerer), and after a scoreless second period, Tyler Saindon cut it to 3-2 just :29 into the third (A-Craig Swan). Hladovcak turned the tide back with an unassisted, short-hande goal with 1:11 gone, and the score held up to the end.
Tomahawk out-shot Mosinee 52-28, including 24-9 in the second period.
Saves-THS-Ole Hanson 9-9-6-24. MHS-Wade Michalski 16-24-10-50.
The Hatchets closed out a 17-8 season. Mosinee was 13-10 heading into Tuesday’s game with #7 seed SPASH.