MONROE - Sometimes a team can come out of nowhere to win a state title. This past weekend, that nowhere was the hometown.
Monroe's varsity Avalanche club hockey team won the WAHA state title against Kenosha 3-2, the reigning 3-time defending champions, Sunday afternoon at SLICE. It was the first state title in team history.
"It's awesome. The kids played great," Monroe coach Cary Bush said. "Winning any state tournament is tough. They kept their heads all weekend."
Kenosha pulled its goalie with 30 seconds left in Sunday's championship game and Monroe nearly added an insurance goal. But a Kenosha defender was there for the save and the Avalanche stopped one final Kenosha shot on goal with 10 seconds left.
"It was close the whole game. But I was really proud of the way the kids kept their heads. Kenosha had three retaliation penalties, a bench minor and misconduct," Bush said. "But we did it the right way."
Jason Johnson scored in the first period on a pass from Thomas Massman to give Monroe a 1-0 lead. Kenosha responded with back-to-back goals near the end of the first. Massman then scored on a power play goal to tie the game at 2-2 on assists from Drew Nafzger and Johnson.
"That was probably the prettiest power-play goal I've seen from Monroe in years. They passed the puck all around - about four passes - and then Massman hit a beautiful one-timer," Bush said.
Jason Atkinson scored Monroe's final goal in the third, according to Bush. John Becker was streaking towards the net and a Kenosha player laid a hard check, sending the bench into loud cheers.
"The bench went crazy, but Atkinson was right there, following the play. In about two seconds they went from celebrating the hit to being stunned by the goal," Bush said.
Ron Draves had a penalty shot knocked away and Eric Ganshert had a goal taken off the board in the third because of a player in the crease. Bush said those troubles usually would affect his team, but on Sunday they went unfazed.
"Throughout the season, that stuff would have stuck with us. But we kept our heads," Bush said. "It's kind of weird how things work. Last year's team was much better than this one. We finished sixth in our league and had a losing record. We could never put a full game together."
Bush also said the goaltending over the weekend by Kyle Bruce was spectacular.
"We let up three goals all weekend. But there have been times where we've let up three goals in five minutes," Bush said. "In the semifinal game (2-1 win against Marinette) he made a great save in overtime and we went right down and scored. Our season could have been over 10 seconds before we won it."
Bruce made 49 saves in the championship game as Monroe was out-shot 51-34 in the game.
In the semifinal win over Marinette, Draves scored 24 seconds into overtime with assists from Kramer Henning and Clinton Anderson. Bruce made 30 saves in the semifinal game and 23 in the first round game, giving him 102 saves on 105 shots over the weekend.
Marinette beat Shaw 1-0 in overtime in the third/fourth place game.
Monroe defeated De Pere 6-0 in the opening round to set up the semifinal game with Marinette.
"It was a great tournament. The first round games were not very close, but both semifinal games and the third/fourth place game went overtime," Bush said.
Also this weekend was the WIAA's state hockey championships. Bush said he feels like that is the organization the Avalanche should be playing in.
"This program needs to go to the WIAA. We can compete with many of those teams. Not Wausau West, but most others," Bush said. "There is talk between our hockey board, which I'm no longer on, and (Monroe High School Athletic Director Dave) Hirsbrunner and those have been positive."
However, with the current budget crisis facing the state and the funding cuts Gov. Scott Walker is proposing for school districts, it could be a while for Monroe to add a WIAA hockey program.
"There's the budget crunch and I don't know what's going to happen with that. I hope it (joining the WIAA) happens."
Bush also noted that he thought long ago that his son Matt, currently a junior, would have played his entire high school career as a part of a WIAA program.
Wausau West won the WIAA state title on Saturday, 5-0 over Middleton.
Monroe's varsity Avalanche club hockey team won the WAHA state title against Kenosha 3-2, the reigning 3-time defending champions, Sunday afternoon at SLICE. It was the first state title in team history.
"It's awesome. The kids played great," Monroe coach Cary Bush said. "Winning any state tournament is tough. They kept their heads all weekend."
Kenosha pulled its goalie with 30 seconds left in Sunday's championship game and Monroe nearly added an insurance goal. But a Kenosha defender was there for the save and the Avalanche stopped one final Kenosha shot on goal with 10 seconds left.
"It was close the whole game. But I was really proud of the way the kids kept their heads. Kenosha had three retaliation penalties, a bench minor and misconduct," Bush said. "But we did it the right way."
Jason Johnson scored in the first period on a pass from Thomas Massman to give Monroe a 1-0 lead. Kenosha responded with back-to-back goals near the end of the first. Massman then scored on a power play goal to tie the game at 2-2 on assists from Drew Nafzger and Johnson.
"That was probably the prettiest power-play goal I've seen from Monroe in years. They passed the puck all around - about four passes - and then Massman hit a beautiful one-timer," Bush said.
Jason Atkinson scored Monroe's final goal in the third, according to Bush. John Becker was streaking towards the net and a Kenosha player laid a hard check, sending the bench into loud cheers.
"The bench went crazy, but Atkinson was right there, following the play. In about two seconds they went from celebrating the hit to being stunned by the goal," Bush said.
Ron Draves had a penalty shot knocked away and Eric Ganshert had a goal taken off the board in the third because of a player in the crease. Bush said those troubles usually would affect his team, but on Sunday they went unfazed.
"Throughout the season, that stuff would have stuck with us. But we kept our heads," Bush said. "It's kind of weird how things work. Last year's team was much better than this one. We finished sixth in our league and had a losing record. We could never put a full game together."
Bush also said the goaltending over the weekend by Kyle Bruce was spectacular.
"We let up three goals all weekend. But there have been times where we've let up three goals in five minutes," Bush said. "In the semifinal game (2-1 win against Marinette) he made a great save in overtime and we went right down and scored. Our season could have been over 10 seconds before we won it."
Bruce made 49 saves in the championship game as Monroe was out-shot 51-34 in the game.
In the semifinal win over Marinette, Draves scored 24 seconds into overtime with assists from Kramer Henning and Clinton Anderson. Bruce made 30 saves in the semifinal game and 23 in the first round game, giving him 102 saves on 105 shots over the weekend.
Marinette beat Shaw 1-0 in overtime in the third/fourth place game.
Monroe defeated De Pere 6-0 in the opening round to set up the semifinal game with Marinette.
"It was a great tournament. The first round games were not very close, but both semifinal games and the third/fourth place game went overtime," Bush said.
Also this weekend was the WIAA's state hockey championships. Bush said he feels like that is the organization the Avalanche should be playing in.
"This program needs to go to the WIAA. We can compete with many of those teams. Not Wausau West, but most others," Bush said. "There is talk between our hockey board, which I'm no longer on, and (Monroe High School Athletic Director Dave) Hirsbrunner and those have been positive."
However, with the current budget crisis facing the state and the funding cuts Gov. Scott Walker is proposing for school districts, it could be a while for Monroe to add a WIAA hockey program.
"There's the budget crunch and I don't know what's going to happen with that. I hope it (joining the WIAA) happens."
Bush also noted that he thought long ago that his son Matt, currently a junior, would have played his entire high school career as a part of a WIAA program.
Wausau West won the WIAA state title on Saturday, 5-0 over Middleton.
