OREGON — For the first time in team history, the Monroe boys hockey co-op defeated Oregon. The Cheesemakers rallied from being down 2-0 to win 4-3, capturing their sixth win in seven games. Oregon had won the first 14 meetings between the two schools.

“I was very happy with the way the boys competed,” Monroe coach Barry Einbeck said.

Oregon’s Kyle Rohrer scored twice in the first 6:12 of the game to put the Panthers ahead 2-0, but the Cheesemakers came crawling back. Hayden Roth scored with 8:34 to put Monroe on the board, with Cooper Dreyfus and Payton Stauffacher credited with assists. With less than five minutes to play in the first, Stauffacher netted the equalizer off a pass from Brady Smith.

Dreyfus scored just over a minute into the second off a pass from Cade Janecke to make it 3-2 Monroe. Janecke was named Wisconsin Prep Hockey player of the week for Dec. 1-7, the first in player in program history to achieve the honor.

At the 7:34 mark in the second, Roth scored his second goal with assists coming from Jared Dillon and Stauffacher. Heath Bear had 27 saves in goal. Oregon outshot the Cheesemakers 29-21.

“We played a very good second period,” Einbeck said. “I’m very happy to get a conference win and happy to see the boys competed for three periods.”

Oregon finished third in conference a season ago with a 9-3 record compared to Monroe’s 2-9 mark. 

Stauffacher leads the team in points with 19, which includes nine goals and 10 assists. Roth and Janecke each have nine goals, with Roth adding eight assists and Janecke seven assists. Bear has played all 357 minutes between the pipes, stopping 91.1% of shots on goal thus far this season.

Up next for Monroe is a nonconference game at Viroqua Dec. 13, followed by a return to Badger South play against Stoughton Feb. 19 at SLICE. The Vikings are 0-3 this season, and 0-2 in conference play, and finished 7-16 (4-8) a year ago. The Cheesemakers need just one more win to tie the program’s highest win total in history.