MONROE — Entering Saturday’s nonconference game against Kenosha, Monroe had last year’s 10-0 loss on its mind. The Cheesemakers, still feeling the sting, got on the Thunder early en route to a 4-2 victory.
Senior Patrick Alt scored 30 seconds in, unassisted.
“It gave us a lot of confidence,” Alt, a student at New Glarus, said of the quick start. “We went down to Kenosha last year and lost 10-0 — just an embarrassing game for us. To get off to that quick start was good for us.”
The scoring opportunity came from the defensive end, where Monroe applied a forecheck. Monroe head coach Barry Einbeck said the strategy has been a point of emphasis this season.
“If we forecheck well and hard, it creates opportunities and the first shift of the game proved that,” Einbeck said. “We forechecked exactly how we needed to — we got sticks on pucks and our guy puts it in the back of the net.”
Monroe goaltender Brock Brandli ensured the lead held through most of the first period, stopping a one-timer ten minutes in. The Thunder, who had 10 shots in the first period, broke through with four minutes left in the first frame.
Brandli kick saved Kenosha’s initial shot but could not slide over in time for the rebound by Kooper Miller. The goal, assisted by Max Bondus and Nathan Rimer, knotted the score at one.
Alt gave Monroe the advantage again in the second period, putting the initial shot on goal. Kenosha’s goalie Payton Zakutansky kick the puck right to Wyatt Janecke’s stick for a second-chance score.
Although the Cheesemakers took the 2-1 lead into the locker room, the Thunder had a golden scoring opportunity in the final 30 seconds.
Brandli lost his stick diving to make a save and was unable to regain it standing back up. His defense didn’t have the opportunity to share their sticks either. Instead, they didn’t allow a single shot on goal while Brandli was without a stick — even though Kenosha was in its offensive zone for the entire final 30 seconds.
“We try to instill blocking shots. It’s a tough thing to do because you are throwing yourself in front of a puck and hoping it hits your pads and not an open spot where there are no pads,” Einbeck said. “It tells me we are thinking as a team and not just about ourselves. That’s what makes our team successful.”
Three minutes into the third period, though, Kenosha’s Dylan Kozak tied, 2-2, the game on a top-shelf goal. In response, Ethan Rosenstiel scored his first goal of the season on a power play. The senior defenseman skated around the net and snuck the puck in between the post and the goalie’s shoulder.
Sensing the pressure, Kenosha committed four penalties in a span of four minutes. Monroe either played even strength or at a man advantage — sometimes a two-man advantage — for six minutes and were unable to score an insurance goal. The whole night, the Cheesemakers were just 1-for-7 on the power play.
“What happens is the kids start squeezing their sticks a little tighter and try to do too much,” Einbeck said. “I was a little disappointed in the power play just in the looks we had and the 5-on-3. We weren’t moving the puck as well as we should be.”
Both teams returned to full-strength with just over a minute left in regulation. Following a Brandli save, Kenosha called a timeout to strategize.
With a faceoff in their offensive zone, the Thunder pulled their goalie to gain a sixth skater. Monroe iced the puck twice, taking 30 seconds off the clock before Carter Nemergut put the game away on an empty-netter.
“We were just trying to get it out of our zone and hopefully get an empty-netter,” Nemergut said. “I just prayed that it would go in. It felt great.”
Alt led all skaters with two points, as Monroe put 25 shots on Zakutansky. In net, Brandli tallied 31 saves. With the win, Monroe improves to 5-2-0 with games against Milton and Sauk Prairie in the next week.
“It was a big confidence boost for us, showing what we are capable of this year,” Alt said. “We are off to a good start at 5-2, and we’ve got some good games coming up that we can compete in.”
