TOMAH, Wis. — Another January Friday night, another nailbiter for the Wisconsin Woodsmen.
Coming off a 6-5 loss to Peoria in Peoria, Ill., last Friday, the Woodsmen and Mustangs were
back at it again on Friday, this time at the Tomah Ice Arena.
And this time around, it would be the Woodsmen who exited with the hard-earned NA3HL
victory.
Nolan Mix, Viktor Budik, and Joshua Kauppinen scored third-period goals, breaking a 3-3
deadlock and leading Wisconsin to a 5-3 victory over the Mustangs in the teams’ fifth straight
meeting.
The two teams traded first-period goals — Vincent Greene scoring at 9:49 for the Woodsmen,
while Peoria’s Wyatt Duke answered less than two minutes later — to make it a 1-1 game after
20 minutes of play.
Maxim Lazo and Tyler Osborne found the back of the net in the first 10 minutes of the second
period to give Wisconsin at two-goal cushion, 3-1. Rex Rhodes pulled the Mustangs within one
before the second stanza ended, and Colten Cox delivered his 21st goal of the season three
minutes into the third period to knot the game at 3-3.
Mix and Budik, however, delivered a lethal 1-2 knockout punch with to give Wisconsin a 5-3
edge, and Kauppinen added his team-leading 17th goal of the season at 15:08 to ice the victory.
Wisconsin dominated in the shots on goal department, holding a commanding 55-12 advantage
— including outshooting Peoria 24-3 in the third period. Steven Kelley made nine saves in goal
for the Woodsmen, while the Mustangs’ Albert Ancinec kicked out 49 of Wisconsin’s 55 shots
on goal.
The Woodsmen and Mustangs will play the second game of their two-game NA3HL weekend
series on Saturday, returing to the Tomah Ice Center for the 7:15 p.m. rematch.
