MONROE - On an emotional night, the Monroe co-op hockey team picked up a magical winner in overtime. The Avalanche knocked off Madison La Follette/East 3-2 in a big come-from-behind performance just hours after retiring the jersey number of the late Joe Wyss. Wyss, a sophomore hockey player, died in a car accident in February.
The pregame ceremony honored the late teen, bringing tears to eyes on the ice and in the stands moments before the first puck dropped.
"You've just got to put your mind to it," Monroe sophomore Payton Stauffacher said of re-focusing on playing the game after the ceremony. Stauffacher did as much, scoring the game-winner in storybook fashion.
"Our last game with La Follette was Joe's last game," coach Josh Smith said. "We went into overtime and tied after a goal got called back. It was an especially apt way to end the night."
By the time Tuesday's game went into OT, the odds were starting to stack against the Avalanche. Monroe opened the frame down a man due to a penalty and had to stave off a furious 5-on-4 rush by La Follette as well as the endurance tank running on 'E'. That's when Disney magic took over.
Monroe goalie Heath Bear saved a nifty one-timer in traffic just a minute into the extra period, and the Avalanche killed the penalty at the 6:25 mark. Just 23 seconds later, La Follette's Reese Rosemeyer was called for a holding penalty, giving Monroe a man-advantage. Eighteen seconds later, Stauffacher found the puck rebounding to his stick and lifted it into the back of the net for the game's final horn.
"I know the boy upstairs was watching tonight, and that's who we did it for," said Stauffacher, who along with junior Jared Cline was Wyss's cousin.
La Follette scored the game's first goal just 3:45 into the first period. Monroe came up empty inch after inch throughout much of the game whilst attempting to even the score. In the second period, a Monroe defender came out to the blue line in an empty zone to clear a slow sliding puck, but whiffed. The miscue led to La Follette's second goal, a one-on-one breakaway by Charlie Collinge with 14:02 left to play in the second.
"I think it was a little bit inexperience, a little bit of getting tired, a little bit of everything," Smith said of some of his team's minor mistakes.
That was the last time Bear would allow a puck to get passed his reach in net. The Monroe goalie finished the night with 20 saves on 22 shots, good for a 90.9 save percentage.
"One thing I like to push is that I want more shots," Smith said. "I was always told growing up that goalies shoot for a 90 percent save rate, which means 1-in-10 is going to go in. For every ten shots you get a goal. I really try to emphasize getting shots on goal."
The Avalanche answered the call, putting a punishing 52 shots on net against La Follette sophomore Easton Seifert, who had 94.2 percent save rate in the game. Seifert routinely made saves contorting his entire body, including one shot in which he had to reach backwards with his glove to make the pick late in the third with the game tied at 2.
"It finally started clicking," Smith said of his players. "They were reading their positions better. There were a few miscues on some faceoffs, but overall they've come a lot farther."
Cade Janecke, a freshman from Orangeville, scored Monroe's first two goals. Janecke's first goal came less than a minute after La Follette had taken its 2-0 lead. But it was Janecke's second goal that got the crowd roaring.
Monroe had staved off another penalty and Hayden Roth and Travis Edmonds were fighting for the puck in the corner. Janecke snuck in behind the defense towards the left side of the net, and Roth hit him with a perfect pass that led to a one-timer with 8:28 to play in regulation.
"Your team helps you out when you're out there," Janecke said. "It's very exciting when your team wins. Your adrenaline's going."
A litany of penalties marred opportunities for both teams late in the third, forcing play to drop to 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 for much of the final five minutes of regulation.
It appeared Monroe's youth and inexperience might become a letdown, but instead Stauffacher came through in the clutch.
"We had to battle pretty hard," Stauffacher said of the overtime. "We only lost three seniors from last year and added nine or ten freshmen. They are helping us out wherever possible."
After winning just one game a year ago, the Avalanche bring back a handful of juniors, a slew of sophomores, and a bumper crop of freshmen. While that inexperience will get tested down the stretch against a tough list of Badger Conference opponents, there is a winning attitude now in the locker room.
"I think we're bringing a lot of talent and enthusiasm and energy," Janecke said of his fellow freshmen. "I think that we're going to help this team a lot, I really do."
"Momentum is everything in hockey. And right now, we have momentum," Smith said.
The pregame ceremony honored the late teen, bringing tears to eyes on the ice and in the stands moments before the first puck dropped.
"You've just got to put your mind to it," Monroe sophomore Payton Stauffacher said of re-focusing on playing the game after the ceremony. Stauffacher did as much, scoring the game-winner in storybook fashion.
"Our last game with La Follette was Joe's last game," coach Josh Smith said. "We went into overtime and tied after a goal got called back. It was an especially apt way to end the night."
By the time Tuesday's game went into OT, the odds were starting to stack against the Avalanche. Monroe opened the frame down a man due to a penalty and had to stave off a furious 5-on-4 rush by La Follette as well as the endurance tank running on 'E'. That's when Disney magic took over.
Monroe goalie Heath Bear saved a nifty one-timer in traffic just a minute into the extra period, and the Avalanche killed the penalty at the 6:25 mark. Just 23 seconds later, La Follette's Reese Rosemeyer was called for a holding penalty, giving Monroe a man-advantage. Eighteen seconds later, Stauffacher found the puck rebounding to his stick and lifted it into the back of the net for the game's final horn.
"I know the boy upstairs was watching tonight, and that's who we did it for," said Stauffacher, who along with junior Jared Cline was Wyss's cousin.
La Follette scored the game's first goal just 3:45 into the first period. Monroe came up empty inch after inch throughout much of the game whilst attempting to even the score. In the second period, a Monroe defender came out to the blue line in an empty zone to clear a slow sliding puck, but whiffed. The miscue led to La Follette's second goal, a one-on-one breakaway by Charlie Collinge with 14:02 left to play in the second.
"I think it was a little bit inexperience, a little bit of getting tired, a little bit of everything," Smith said of some of his team's minor mistakes.
That was the last time Bear would allow a puck to get passed his reach in net. The Monroe goalie finished the night with 20 saves on 22 shots, good for a 90.9 save percentage.
"One thing I like to push is that I want more shots," Smith said. "I was always told growing up that goalies shoot for a 90 percent save rate, which means 1-in-10 is going to go in. For every ten shots you get a goal. I really try to emphasize getting shots on goal."
The Avalanche answered the call, putting a punishing 52 shots on net against La Follette sophomore Easton Seifert, who had 94.2 percent save rate in the game. Seifert routinely made saves contorting his entire body, including one shot in which he had to reach backwards with his glove to make the pick late in the third with the game tied at 2.
"It finally started clicking," Smith said of his players. "They were reading their positions better. There were a few miscues on some faceoffs, but overall they've come a lot farther."
Cade Janecke, a freshman from Orangeville, scored Monroe's first two goals. Janecke's first goal came less than a minute after La Follette had taken its 2-0 lead. But it was Janecke's second goal that got the crowd roaring.
Monroe had staved off another penalty and Hayden Roth and Travis Edmonds were fighting for the puck in the corner. Janecke snuck in behind the defense towards the left side of the net, and Roth hit him with a perfect pass that led to a one-timer with 8:28 to play in regulation.
"Your team helps you out when you're out there," Janecke said. "It's very exciting when your team wins. Your adrenaline's going."
A litany of penalties marred opportunities for both teams late in the third, forcing play to drop to 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 for much of the final five minutes of regulation.
It appeared Monroe's youth and inexperience might become a letdown, but instead Stauffacher came through in the clutch.
"We had to battle pretty hard," Stauffacher said of the overtime. "We only lost three seniors from last year and added nine or ten freshmen. They are helping us out wherever possible."
After winning just one game a year ago, the Avalanche bring back a handful of juniors, a slew of sophomores, and a bumper crop of freshmen. While that inexperience will get tested down the stretch against a tough list of Badger Conference opponents, there is a winning attitude now in the locker room.
"I think we're bringing a lot of talent and enthusiasm and energy," Janecke said of his fellow freshmen. "I think that we're going to help this team a lot, I really do."
"Momentum is everything in hockey. And right now, we have momentum," Smith said.
