MONROE — The Monroe Avalanche youth hockey teams played several games the second weekend in December.

Bantam A

The Bantam A team traveled to Waupaca and won the Bantam Ice Breaker tournament held Dec. 8-9.

First up on Dec. 8 was a 7-0 win over Janesville B. The first period was scoreless. In the second period the Avalanche would get on the board with a goal scored by Sam Pecoraro with an assist by Nathan Ratke. Ratke would then follow that up with an unassisted goal.

The third period was all Avalanche, which scored five times. Seth Brandt had two goals and Wyatt Janecke, Cash Anderson and Josh Haight each had one. Assists were made by Haight and Janecke. Jack Leverton had eight saves in the net.

The second game Dec. 8 was a 7-3 win over the Sheboygan Lakers, which would advance the Avalanche to Sunday’s championship. 

Against Sheboygan, the Avalanche would score first with a goal by Cash Anderson, assisted by Seth Brandt. The Lakers later tied it at 1-1. The Avalanche scored four times in the second period. Brandt, Zach Picker, Wyatt Janecke and Nathan Ratke all scored unassisted. In the third period, the Lakers would add two more goals, but the Avalanche would answer back with goals by Logan Roth (assisted by Brandt) and Brandt (assisted by Anderson). Jack Leverton had 22 saves.

In the Dec. 9 championship game the Avalanche defeated the Milwaukee Blaze 3-2 in overtime. 

In a physical game, the Blaze scored the only goal in the first period. In the second period, the Avalanche would strike with a goal by Seth Brandt (assisted by Josh Haight) to tie the game 1-1. Then the Avalanche would strike again with an unassisted goal by Wyatt Janecke to take the lead 2-1. With just minutes left in regulation, the Blaze would tie the game 2-2. 

Overtime was a five-minute, 4-on-4 sudden death contest. The Avalanche scored less than two minutes into overtime on a breakaway by Nathan Ratke. Jack Leverton had 20 saves.

Bantam B

The Avalanche Bantam B team took on Quad City in a doubleheader at SLICE in Monroe Dec. 8. After spending most of the first period in a defensive battle, Haden Barker got the Avalanche rolling in Game 1 with a goal on an assist from Payton Hathaway. Barker’s goal opened the floodgates, as Monroe would score three more times in less than four minutes. Jayden Downs scored twice, with assists to Jaryn Fonseca, Sergio Fletcher and Aidan Grey. Downs would return the favor to Grey, assisting him on a goal right before the end of the first period. Carson Kurschner would provide an assist to Grey in the second period, putting Monroe up 5-2 going into the third period. Grey would have a hat trick in the game to go with his two assists, and Hathaway would round out the scoring for Monroe. The Avalanche would have a season-high 56 shots on goal in Game 1. Goalie Xander Obert had a season-high 35 saves in the game.

Game 2 started off almost the exact opposite, as Quad Cities would score two goals in the first two minutes. Barker would answer less than a minute later, once again assisted by Hathaway and Kurschner. Kurschner would have a playmaker of assists in this game. Fletcher would score on one of those midway through the first period. Grey would take over from there, recording six goals on the day, including two shorthanded. Obert stopped 22 of 24 in the 9-2 victory.

The Oregon Panthers visited Monroe Dec. 9 in a rematch of the season opener. 

The game did not start well for the Avalanche, as the puck would ricochet off of Fonseca’s skate to score for Oregon eight seconds into the game. Oregon scored again on a rebound, before Monroe would answer back, firing off three unanswered goals by Grey, Fonseca and Kurschner. Oregon would score with one second left in the first to tie it at 3-3. The majority of the second period would see the Avalanche on power plays, but Oregon killed all of them. 

“We played a good game against a physical Oregon team,” coach Jeff Kurschner said after the game. “We didn’t capitalize as much as we would like in power play opportunities but had some real good offensive rushes throughout the game. Defensively our gap control was much better today but we still have some work to do. We continue to show improvement.  We just need to keep working hard, trust the process and good things will happen.”

Obert would have 35 saves in the 6-4 loss.

Squirt A

On Dec. 8, Monroe made the hike to Dodgeville for a match up against the Ice Wolves and had control from start to finish winning, 10-1, even as they were short on the bench with only seven skaters and a goalie. 

Monroe jumped on the board early with two goals from Owen Hicks with an assist from Brady Stuart on the first and unassisted on the second. Dodgeville opened the second period with a goal, but defenseman Beau Janecke answered back with an unassisted goal, followed by an unassisted goal by Stuart. Clayton Downs also found the back of the net with an assist from Brixen Dale to end the second period. Hicks rounded out his hat trick on a pass from Janecke to begin the third period. Stuart also lit the lamp two more times to earn his hat trick, unassisted and off of a pass from Janecke respectfully.  With a minute remaining in the game, Janecke caught a pass from Dale and drove the net for the game’s final goal. Barrett Brandli recorded five saves for the Avalanche.

On Dec. 9, the Squirt A were at home in a double header with Beloit. In the 9:15 a.m. matchup, the Avalanche kept their momentum from the day before, moving the puck, catching passes and pushing the puck up the ice. Thirty seconds into the first, Owen Hicks connected on a pass from Brady Stuart and scored. Four minutes later, Beau Janecke took it coast to coast and scored. Just seconds later, Stuart, on a pass from Janecke, scored to make it 3-0. Beloit answered back with three unanswered goals until the 2-minute mark with Stuart scoring again on an assist from Brixen Dale to end the period 4-3. The second period was all Monroe as Janecke (unassisted and assisted by Stuart) and Tysen Folgate (assisted by Barrett Brandli and Parker Allen) each chipped in two more. Stuart and Lane Schilt also each added a goal apiece with both assists coming from Dale. Beloit added four of their own, ending the period with a score of 10-7. Beloit scored once more at the top of the third period, but Monroe was able to hold on with a couple more goals, one from Stuart to Hicks and another from Tysen Folgate to Dale, giving the Avalanche a 12-8 victory. Blake Folgate was in net for the Avalanche and recorded 18 saves.

In Game 2 vs. Beloit, the Avalanche jumped out to an early lead with goals coming from Hicks (assisted by Allen0), Schilt (assisted by Janecke) and Stuart (assisted by Downs). The Blades did manage to get on the board and end the period 3-1. Janecke found the back of the net unassisted to start the second period. Downs connected on a pass from Brandli to add another tally to the scoresheet. Dale also scored in the second with an assist from Allen, while Beloit was only able to answer back with one. Monroe continued its offensive attack in the third with five goals and Beloit responding with two of their own. Janecke went unassisted twice, while Stuart added three more with assists coming from Janecke and Schilt, with a final score of 11-4. Blake Folgate recorded 14 saves.

Pee Wee A

The Avalanche took third at the Chill Classic Dec. 8-9 in La Crosse.  

The Dec. 8 games started with a tough 7-2 loss to Fairmont, Minnesota. The Avalanche came out strong putting the first score on the board with a goal from Benjamin Erdley, assisted by DJ Rath. Fairmont answered back with four unanswered goals. Monroe finally put up another score in the second with a goal by Cole Bulhozer. However, that would be all the scoring for the Avalanche. Fairmont would add three more. Kyle Theorin had 23 saves in this first game.

The second game saw the Avalanche top Altoona 8-4. Gavin Roth had four goals. The other Monroe scores came from Brody Koehn, Alex Beer, Cameron Newcomer and Ethan Rosenstiel. Monroe outshot Altoona with 35-14. Theorin had 10 saves.

On Dec. 9, the Avalanche defeated Viroqua 3-1 to take third. Monroe dictated the pace of the game from the first puck drop. The Avalanche had a season high 44 shots on goal. Roth scored twice, with the second assisted by Cole Bulhozer. Erdley posted another goal as well, unassisted. Theorin had seven saves.