Friday, 11/18 CWS 3-1 WST

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The Central Wisconsin Saints started their home series with the Wooster Oilers off on the right foot by outplaying them in 3-1 victory.

Colin Van Hauter and Ian Dart led the Saints with a goal and an assist each in the 1st period. Van Hauter scored first on an assist from Dart and Jeremy Ebert. Van Hauter then assisted Dart’s goal late in the opening period.

In the 2nd period Mike Mitch scored on a deflection of a Mike Tiberi shot and Max Culp also picked up an assist. Wooster would score the lone goal in the 3rd period on goal from Joshua Ybarra, Joshua Turkaly and Jaron Smith picked assists.

Both teams did not score on the power play. Wooster was 0-4 and Central Wisconsin was 0-2. Jake Adams picked up the win stopping 14 of 15 shots. The Saints outshot the Oilers 32-15.

Saturday, 11/19 CWS 3-1 WST

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The Saints and the Oilers met for Game two of the series in which the Saints won 3-1 despite having 3 players ejected from the game for fighting.

The Oilers came out flying in the 1st period where they used their physical play to try and knock the Saints off their game, but the Saints scored first at the 3:59 mark on a rebound goal from Plover native Kenton Grulkowski. Mike Tiberi and Justin Ritchie picked up assists on the goal.

Oiler Preston Hagerman grabbed Grulkowski and started throwing punches at him, but Grulkowski kept his cool and did not retaliate. Hagerman was the first of many players who were thrown out for fighting on both teams.

The penalty led to the Saints second goal of the period when Max Culp fired a top shelf shot past Wooster goalie Alexander Batson to give the Saints a 2-0 lead on the powerplay. Daniel Dallenbach and Kyle Harnish picked up assists on the play.

Later in the period Saint Chase Engdahl fought Oiler Joshua Porter in which Engdahl completely dominated the fight.  Both players would stay in the game and Engdahl had a bloody hand after the altercation.

Two more fights would ensue before the period was over. Tiberi would fight Oiler William Blanset where both players traded punches before Tiberi would wrestle Blanset to the ground. The last fight of the period was between Jay Shifra Jr. for the Saints and Tyler Williams of the Oilers would drop the gloves as well. All four players were ejected from the game for fighting.

At the 15:41 mark of the 1st period the Oilers would get on the board on a goal from Joshua Ybarra who took a pass in front of the net from former Saint Kyle Althen to pull within one at the intermission.

The game settled down in the 2nd period until Max Culp hit an Oiler player from behind into the boards and was not called for a penalty. The Oiler player was down on the ice for several minutes and the Wooster bench was not happy about the non penalty call.

Later in the period injured Oiler Kevin Peters was called back from the locker room, sent onto the ice and began to attack Culp right off the faceoff. The fans at K.B Willett Arena were appalled by the play and were yelling at the players and coaches from Wooster.

Peters was not only ejected for fighting, but also picked up penalties for instigating, fighting major, fighting misconduct and abuse of officials.

Things quieted down in the third until Daniel Dallenbach lit the lamp for the Saints on assists from Culp and Harnish. Dallenbach, Culp, and Harnish all had 2 point nights for the Saints.

Central Wisconsin outshot Wooster 42-21 in the game. Jake Adams only surrendered 1 goal and saved 20 Oiler shots on goal. Baston made 39 saves on the night.

Sunday, 11/20 CWS 7-3 WST

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Going for their first series sweep of the year, the Central Wisconsin Saints played their best hockey of the season on Sunday morning. The Saints dominated the Wooster Oiler in all facets of the game en route to a 7-3 victory and a sweep of the three game set.

Pacing the Saints offensively was Central Wisconsin’s “Red Line”. Made up of all returning players Mike Mitch, Kyle Harnish and Max Culp accounted for 14 points on the night. Mitch led the group with a hat trick while also tallying 3 assists for 6 points. Harnish had a goal and 3 assists, while Culp racked up 2 goals and 2 assists.

In a contrast to the violent and unpredictable second game of this series, the Saints made the outcome of this contest a no-doubter. Just over one minute into the first period Mitch scored his first goal of the game on the power play and Central Wisconsin was off and rolling.

Harnish scored his goal about midway through the frame. The offensive trio worked the puck on net and it looked as though Wooster goaltender Alexander Batson had the puck covered. The linesman behind the play could still see the puck loose and the whistle was never blown. This allowed Harnish to see the puck and deposit it in the net for his 7^th goal of the season.

In the second period it was more of the same. Jeremy Ebert danced through the Wooster defense for a spectacular unassisted, shorthanded goal. That goal was answered quickly by a David Cox unassisted goal 30 seconds later.

The period could have turned early if not for the stellar play of Saints’ starting goaltender Jake Adams. Adams started all three weekend games and won all three. Adam made a diving stop on the penalty kill as he leapt across his body to bat the puck down with his stick. Just a few minutes later Adams would stop Jaron Smith with a poke check on the breakaway.

This game the Saints enough time to figure it out, as Mike Mitch tallied his second of the game on a breakaway and brought the Saints’ lead back up to 3 goals. Culp scored his first of the game late in the period as he banked the puck off of Joshua Turkaly and into the net after about 45 seconds of intense forechecking by Central Wisconsin’s Red Line.

In the third period the Saints ran away with the game. Mitch notched the hat trick 8 minutes in. Michael Branem countered for the Oilers on the power play after Jeremy Ebert played a discarded stick with his own to interfere with an opponent.

Max Culp struck again 34 seconds later to put the game well out of reach. It was Culp’s 14^th goal of the season, the most on the team. That was the end of Batson’s night as he made way for Taylor Kuhn. Turkaly notched the final goal of the game shorthanded, but by that point there was no question as to how the game would end.

Chase Engdahl, who recorded an assist in the game, received his second fighting major in as many games. Engdahl enjoyed a spirited scrap with Jonathan Stanfield. Jake Adams also dropped the gloves for Central Wisconsin after being run by James Jenkins.

Adams, who made several key stops in the third period, came charging out of the net and remembered to remove his gloves after Jenkins flew into him as he tried to stuff the puck into the net. The players were separated, but as Adams was being held back by the referee Wooster captain (and former Saint) Kyle Althen snuck up behind Adams and ripped off his helmet. Adams then engaged with Joshua Ybarra (who was wear a full cage) and proceeded to pummel him into the ice.

Adams left the game with 20 saves on 23 shots and pulled his overall goals agains average under four. Mitch Hanson took over and made several key stops to make sure that Wooster didn’t have any hope. The Saints took 45 shots on goal and only allowed 25 by Wooster.

The Saints move to 8-10-1 on the season and sit 4^th in the West leading into the Thanksgiving break. Wooster falls to 11-11-1 and maintains 2^nd place in the East. The Saints return to action Friday December 2^nd in Wisconsin Rapids as they will finish their series with the Motor City Chiefs. They will then return to the KB Willett Arena for a two game set with the Fort Wayne Federals.

Notes: The series saw the Saints debut of Devin Fracassi who was signed earlier this month…This was the first hat trick of Mike Mitch’s junior career…This was Central Wisconsin’s first series sweep of the season…Jay Shifra Jr and Mikey Tiberi did not dress for Sunday’s game due to suspension…Goaltender Lucas Mikulasik missed the series with flu-like symptoms.