MONROE — While the Monroe boys varsity co-op isn’t back in the WIAA this year due to guidelines surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the program continues to play many of the same teams it usually would each year — including Badger Conference foes and state-ranked teams. 

On Jan. 27, Monroe beat rival Oregon 8-6 in a fast-paced affair. The Panthers are a WIAA team and ranked fifth in the state in Division 2. It was the second time in two weeks Monroe (14-6-2) beat Oregon (9-4-0) at SLICE.

The win wasn’t always in Monroe’s favor, however. Oregon jumped out to a 3-0 lead less than 13 minutes into the game. Ryan Molitor broke the egg for Monroe on a power play with 1:40 to go in the first period, with Roman Bauer and Cade Janecke credited with assists.

The game got interesting in the second. Hayden Roth scored off an assist from Cade Janecke just 21 seconds into the frame, and then Cooper Dreyfus, who has missed much of the season with an injury, scored a short-handed goal less than four minutes later to tie it at 3-3. Roth scored again with 10:37 left in the second on a power play, with Janecke assisting yet again.

After four minutes of back-and-forth skating action, the pace picked up fast enough that if you blinked, you missed what happened, thanks in part to a seemingly eternal power play after Oregon’s Kaden Peterson was hit with a 10-minute misconduct penalty — which came just five minutes after a 5-minute major penalty. 

With 5:41 left in the period, Oregon scored a short-handed goal if its own to even it up at 4-4. But just 20 seconds later, Janecke capped the power play by lighting the lamp and taking the lead back. Roth and Roman Bauer assisted. Just 57 seconds later, Roth scored for a third time — this time also on a power play with Janecke assisting. Another 30 seconds went by when Roth tallied his fourth goal of the game with assists coming from Blaze Janecke and Nolan Bodenstein, making it 7-4 Monroe with 3:54 left in the second period.

The two squads skated scoreless until deep in the third, when Oregon scored back-to-back goals 46 seconds apart to bring the score to within one goal at 7-6. Roth, ready to seize opportunity, added his fifth goal of the game on Cade Janecke’s fourth assist with 1:33 remaining in regulation, less than a minute after Monroe’s coaches called a timeout. It was yet again another power play goal, as Monroe went 6-for-6 on the extra-man advantage, while Oregon was 0-5.

Monroe goalie Jayden Johnson saved 45 of the 51 shots he faced. Oregon outshot Monroe 51-46, though that was aided by the 25-8 shot chart in the third period. The teams combined for 33 penalty minutes, though Monroe drew just 10.

Up next for Monroe is a Jan. 29 date with Middleton at SLICE, with Milton to follow the next night at the same venue.