PEORIA, Ill. — There was no tryptophan hangover when the Wisconsin Woodsmen and Peoria
Mustangs squared off Friday evening.
Just a day after enjoying their Thanksgiving feasts, the Woodsmen and Mustangs showed no
signs of “turkey sluggishness,” when they returned to the ice for the first game of the teams’
two-game weekend series at the Owens Center.
The two teams combined for nine goals — and, fortunately for the Woodsmen, the final two
tallies of the game came off the sticks of Josh Kauppinen and Tyler Osborne in the game’s final
1:37, lifting Wisconsin to a 6-4 victory over the Mustangs.
The Woodsmen — who erupted for a season-high nine goals in their last meeting with the
Mustangs, a 9-1 win on Nov. 8 — scored twice in the game’s first 11 minutes in taking a quick 2-
0 lead.
The lead, however, would not stand up,
Nolan Mix and Maxim Lazo found the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes to give
Wisconsin a two-goal cushion heading into the first intermission.
The Mustangs’ Thanksgiving tryptophan wore off after that opening 20 minutes, as Peoria’s
offense erupted for three unanswered goals in a five-minute span early in the second period to
grab its first lead of the game, 3-2.
Brandon Slasor pulled the Woodsmen even at 3-3 with his fourth of the season with 5:53 to
play in the middle period to send the game into the final 20 minutes deadlocked.
The two teams exchange third-period goals — Ozbej Muzan scoring for the Woodsmen at
12:20, while Wyatt Duke knotted the game at 4-4 two minutes later — before Kauppinen found
the net for the fourth time this season to give the Woodsmen the lead for good. Tyler Osborne
added an empty-netter with 29 seconds to play to give Wisconsin its second win in its last three
games.
Alex Rivolta picked up the win between the pipes for the Wisconsin, stopping 27 Mustang
shots, while Albert Ancinec finished with 37 saves for Peoria.
The Woodsmen (6-14-2-1) and Mustangs return to the ice on Saturday, as the two teams
square off in Game 2 of their NA3HL weekend series with a 4 p.m. matchup.
