MONROE — After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the Monroe varsity club hockey team had a choice: Give up and skate through the motions the rest of the way against a very physical Oregon squad, or up the ante and pressure and find a way to win.

“I think we just finally got our heads in the right place and started shooting the puck on net and moving it better. And we started playing more physical,” said senior Cade Janecke after Monroe’s 7-3 win over Oregon Jan. 16 at SLICE. “I think we just pulled through at the end of the first.”

Janecke, a senior, scored back-to-back goals in just 25 seconds time to tie the score at 2-2 with 6:47 left in the period, bringing new life to his squad.

“I just said to myself, ‘we’ve got to get something going here,’ and I ended up scoring two goals, coincidentally,” Janecke said.

Janecke’s first goal came off a pass from Cash Anderson, and Janecke, a lefty, came up on the right side of the net, turned his body, and snapped a shot past Oregon goalie Colton Dailey. The Panthers won the next faceoff, but Janecke found himself with the puck and on a breakaway moments later, again beating Dailey 1-on-1.

As the players went into the locker room for the first intermission, head coach Rooney Janecke, Cade’s dad, and assistant coach Brett Janecke, Cade’s uncle, tried to keep the players focused and discuss what was happening on the ice.

“They said we have to start moving the puck well. They were pressuring our one side, so we were leaving our guy without the puck open — our far wing was open. We really started to use that to our advantage and put pucks on net,” said Cade Janecke.

The strategy checked out, as Monroe scored four straight goals in the first 7:12 of the second half to take a commanding 6-2 advantage.

The go-ahead score came off the stick of Hayden Roth just 2:01 into the period, with an assist from Roman Bauer. Three minutes later Janecke netted his third goal of the day for a hat trick, with cousin Blaze Janecke assisting. 

“I was glad I could get those scoring chances — I got set up by a couple of my teammates, which was nice. Overall team play really helps you score goals, which is awesome,” Roth said. 

Roth leads the team with 25 goals this season, and is second in points to Cade Janecke, with 52. The two share the first line of forwards with Blaze Janecke, who is third on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 15 assists.

“It’s awesome having that chemistry. We’ve been playing with each other all the way up through youth hockey and carrying into high school. I know where Cade’s going to be, and he knows where I’m going to be.”

Next up to light the lamp for Monroe was Blaze less than two minutes later, with Roth assisting. The goal chased Dailey from the game with backup Carter Granburg coming on in relief — not that it mattered, as Monroe immediately scored again, just 21 seconds later when Blaze took a pass from Bryce Montgomery and put it into the back of the net.

“They gave us some wise words that we needed to move a little faster,” Roth said of his coaches. “We need to play how we know how to play, which is fast, move the puck, work as a team and I think w got the message and ended up doing that.”

Oregon did get a breakaway goal just 38 seconds later, but Monroe buckled back down and kept the Panthers from scoring the rest of the night.

Monroe’s final goal came off the stick of Ryan Molitor at the 12:14 mark in the third on a power play, with Bauer and Roth assisting.

Monroe registered 34 shots on goal, while Oregon had 50. Monroe goalie Jayden Johnson stopped 47 shots in 51 minutes.

The win over Oregon came on the heels of a 7-2 win over Milton the night before. Monroe opened with a 2-0 lead and increased it to 5-2 after the first period. Monroe scored two more in the second.

Roth had a hat trick, and Cade Janecke and Bauer each had had two goals. Roth added three assists, while Nolan Bodenstein, Blaze and Cade Janecke each had one assist. 

Johnson had 31 saves in net, and Xander Obert took over in goal in the third and added another save to Monroe’s total.

Cade Janecke said he is unsure what he’ll do for next year, though he is thinking about playing club hockey. He said he’s grown up with many of his current teammates, and last year’s graduates, calling them family after more than a dozen years on the ice together.

“All I can really say is it was one heck of an experience. I’ve basically grown up with these guys — they are practically family now that I think about it,” Cade said. “It’s been kind of an advantage to us (on the ice) because we’ve played our entire life together. We can tell each other’s emotions and stuff like that; we know when to pass, when to shoot.”

Monroe is not re-joining the WIAA, like Oregon, for the playoffs. Instead, the program will finish out the season playing WAHA club, which will allow for about a dozen more games than typical for the players to compete in.

“I’m very grateful for what has happened, even though we aren’t playing WIAA. These teams are still just as good or better than the ones we’d be playing,” Cade said. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity to play.”