MONROE — The Cheesemakers dropped a 5-1 nonconference game against Viroqua at home on Jan. 23, then fell at Waunakee two days later.

Against Viroqua, the Cheesemakers fell behind 2-0 after the first period, and then trailed 3-0 at the second intermission. 

Brody Koehn scored less than two minutes into the third to give Monroe some life. Carter Nemergut and Benjamin Erdley assisted.

Monroe nearly scored another just a minute later, hitting the pipe on a shot. However, penalties and exhaustion set in, and the Blackhawks lit the lamp twice in the final 4:28 to put the game out of reach. 

“I’ll give some credit to Viroqua — they played really well. We did not,” Monroe coach Barry Einbeck said. “We struggled for the first two periods, then came out a little better in the third. It’s just one of those games where we were really struggling at trying to find our identity in how we want to play.”

The Cheesemakers even fought off a brief 5-on-3 midway through the final period.

“That was a real plus, because when we got to that point, we thought, ‘Great, with our goal, we’re getting back into this game,’” Einbeck said of the 5-on-3 penalty kill. “I was just hoping that would be kind of something that would get us energized on the bench a little bit.”

Brogan Hoelscher took the loss in net for Monroe, his first of the season. He stopped 23 shots. The Cheesemakers out-shot Viroqua 42-28.

“I thought he’s done well as a freshman in net for us this season. I figured we ought to give him a few minutes there tonight and see how he looks,” Einbeck said.

At Waunakee, offensive attack was hard to come by for the Cheesemakers. The Warriors out-shot Monroe 23-2 in the first period and 55-14 by the end of regulation.

Waunakee jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the time the Cheesemakers added a score of their own. Jace Daughenbaugh was credited with the unassisted, even strength goal.

Brock Brandli turned back 50 shots in net.