The Bluejay hockey team faced a pair of Wausau teams at home last week and the defeats couldn’t have been much different. East rallied for last Tuesday’s 5-4 win, while the state’s second-ranked West pulled out a 10-0 triumph at home on Thursday.
The Merrill hockey team found its Senior Night celebration a bittersweet one more than the impending loss of their elder statesmen. Wausau East scored the only two goals of the third period to rally from a 2-1 deficit and grab the win between two of the teams with just one Valley win. East improved to 2-7, while Merrill and Marshfield are both 1-7.
“It was a tough one to lose,” MHS assistant Bill Hauswirth said. “We had some trouble toward the end of the game getting the puck out of our end and they were able to score with help from the power play.
“The kids fought all the way to the end and had chances to tie right to the finish but couldn’t get the puck to go. But the kids played as a team and they worked hard.”
East tallied the only goal of the first period, but Merrill struck twice in the second. Brian Root fed a pass through the legs of a defender and Dylan Heller sent it home with 5:49 gone. Heller also netted the second goal, taking an Austin Burgener assist and scoring it just before the tender knocked the goal off the pins with 11:49 elapsed. After a referees conference, MHS was awarded the goal.
But East would notch two goals in the third, with 3:48 and 1:53 remaining, for the win.
Saves–MHS–Stephen Simon 9-14-9–32. WE–Austin Jensen 2-14-7–23.
West is best
Merrill hung within 3-0 of the Warriors through a period, but a five-goal second put them in dire straights. West tallied two more in the third.
“Another rough loss in the Valley,” MHS head coach Chase Nelson said. “The kids played hard through the first period and most of the second. A late letdown in the second lead to two West goals in the final minute of the period.
Seven different Warriors scored and Christian Bardarson (2 g, 1 A), Nate Newman (2 G, 1 A) and Adam Parsells (3 A) each gave a trio of points.
Saves–MHS–Stephen Simon 26-17-13–56. WW–Jacob Warnke 3-3-2–8.
The Jays were at 7-13 overall and 1-8 in the Valley heading into Thursday’s contest at Marshfield (1-8, 7-13). Sixth-ranked SPASH (7-2, 15-4) comes here next Tuesday.