MONROE - The Monroe U16 hockey team's dream of winning a Midget U16 Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association state championship was dashed Sunday as the Avalanche took fourth place at Monroe's StateLine Ice and Community Expo (SLICE).
The Avalanche entered the tournament unbeaten and got off to a fast start Saturday, beating Milwaukee Shaw, 4-3.
That's when the weekend took a turn. The rematch of last year's championship game between Monroe and Hudson was delayed almost three hours after the rink's Zamboni broke down. The late start didn't affect Monroe, as the Avalanche beat the defending state champion, 7-2. Despite going 2-1 in round-robin format play after a Sunday loss to Superior, Monroe didn't earn enough points to advance to the state title game.
"It was an interesting weekend," said state tournament director Gottlieb Brandli II. "We had the hardest schedule out of everybody."
Superior defeated Milwaukee Shaw 7-4 in the championship game.
In the final round-robin game Sunday morning, Monroe needed two points to advance to the championship game and Superior needed just one.
Monroe entered the third period trailing 1-0. That quickly changed as Monroe's Jordan Steurer scored a game-tying goal on an assist by Skylar Stingley with 12 minutes left. But with 3:50 to go in the game, Monroe took a slashing penalty to give Superior a power play. It took Superior only 59 seconds to score the go-ahead goal for a 2-1 lead.
Monroe opted to pull its goaltender and add another attacker in the final 1:50, since the Avalanche needed a tie to advance to the title game. Monroe took a tripping penalty to stop Superior from scoring on an empty net with 1:34 left. Superior was able to get the puck out of its zone and scored an empty-net goal with 15 seconds left to seal a 3-1 win.
Monroe put itself in a position to advance to the championship game for the second straight year, with two strong round-robin games.
MONROE 4, MILWAUKEE SHAW 3
Kramer Henning scored at the end of the first period against Milwaukee Shaw to give Monroe a 1-0 lead.
The Avalanche exploded for three second-period goals, including a pair by Ron Draves to push the lead to 4-1. Draves scored his first goal of the second period on an assist by Ian Zimmerman. Craig Rutheldge scored the next goal on an assist by Taylor Riese and Luke Newcomer to give the Avalanche a commanding 3-0 lead. Draves scored his second goal of the period to almost put the game out of reach. Monroe withstood a late rally by Shaw, which featured two third-period goals.
MONROE 7, HUDSON 2
Matt Bush scored the first goal on assists from Gottlieb Brandli III and Steurer. At the halfway point in the first period, Rutheldge scored on assists by Eric Ganshert and Newcomer. Hudson scored with eight seconds left to go in period to cut the Avalanche's lead to 2-1.
Brandli scored a go-ahead goal on assists from Jon Becker and Bush with four minutes left in the second period to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead.
The Avalanche put the game away with four third-period goals. Draves scored unassisted. Steurer scored a goal on assists by Skylar Stingley and Brandli III. Brandli earned a hat trick by scoring his third goal on an assist by Zimmerman, and Rutheldge added his second tally on an assist by Steurer.
The Avalanche entered the tournament unbeaten and got off to a fast start Saturday, beating Milwaukee Shaw, 4-3.
That's when the weekend took a turn. The rematch of last year's championship game between Monroe and Hudson was delayed almost three hours after the rink's Zamboni broke down. The late start didn't affect Monroe, as the Avalanche beat the defending state champion, 7-2. Despite going 2-1 in round-robin format play after a Sunday loss to Superior, Monroe didn't earn enough points to advance to the state title game.
"It was an interesting weekend," said state tournament director Gottlieb Brandli II. "We had the hardest schedule out of everybody."
Superior defeated Milwaukee Shaw 7-4 in the championship game.
In the final round-robin game Sunday morning, Monroe needed two points to advance to the championship game and Superior needed just one.
Monroe entered the third period trailing 1-0. That quickly changed as Monroe's Jordan Steurer scored a game-tying goal on an assist by Skylar Stingley with 12 minutes left. But with 3:50 to go in the game, Monroe took a slashing penalty to give Superior a power play. It took Superior only 59 seconds to score the go-ahead goal for a 2-1 lead.
Monroe opted to pull its goaltender and add another attacker in the final 1:50, since the Avalanche needed a tie to advance to the title game. Monroe took a tripping penalty to stop Superior from scoring on an empty net with 1:34 left. Superior was able to get the puck out of its zone and scored an empty-net goal with 15 seconds left to seal a 3-1 win.
Monroe put itself in a position to advance to the championship game for the second straight year, with two strong round-robin games.
MONROE 4, MILWAUKEE SHAW 3
Kramer Henning scored at the end of the first period against Milwaukee Shaw to give Monroe a 1-0 lead.
The Avalanche exploded for three second-period goals, including a pair by Ron Draves to push the lead to 4-1. Draves scored his first goal of the second period on an assist by Ian Zimmerman. Craig Rutheldge scored the next goal on an assist by Taylor Riese and Luke Newcomer to give the Avalanche a commanding 3-0 lead. Draves scored his second goal of the period to almost put the game out of reach. Monroe withstood a late rally by Shaw, which featured two third-period goals.
MONROE 7, HUDSON 2
Matt Bush scored the first goal on assists from Gottlieb Brandli III and Steurer. At the halfway point in the first period, Rutheldge scored on assists by Eric Ganshert and Newcomer. Hudson scored with eight seconds left to go in period to cut the Avalanche's lead to 2-1.
Brandli scored a go-ahead goal on assists from Jon Becker and Bush with four minutes left in the second period to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead.
The Avalanche put the game away with four third-period goals. Draves scored unassisted. Steurer scored a goal on assists by Skylar Stingley and Brandli III. Brandli earned a hat trick by scoring his third goal on an assist by Zimmerman, and Rutheldge added his second tally on an assist by Steurer.
