PEORIA, Ill. — Now that’s more like it.
A day after dropping a heartbreaking 6-5 overtime decision on Friday, the Wisconsin
Woodsmen returned to the win column in their NA3HL rematch with the Peoria Mustangs.
Wisconsin erupted for four second-period goals, and scored a pair of goals in the game’s final
1:48 to seal a 7-4 victory over the Mustangs Saturday at Owens Center.
Both teams would find the back of the net in the game’s opening 20 minutes, with Joshua
Kauppinen netting his team-leading 15th of the season — and first of his two on the night — to
account for the Woodsmen’s first-period tally.
And then came the Woodsmen’s second-period onslaught.
Kauppinen, Viktor Budik, Johnny Thrasher, and Colton Holzer all scored in the middle frame to
extend Wisconsin’s lead to 5-1 with 20 minutes to play.
Peoria made things interesting, scoring three times in the first 14:47 to cut the Wiscnosin lead
to one, 5-4.
That, however, would be as close as the Mustangs would come, as Tegan O’Brien and Maxim
Lazo netted late third-period goals to ice the Wisconsin victory.
Along with his two goals, Kauppinen also collected a pair of assists for a four-point effofrt, while
Hugh Deinema collected three helpers and Budik added a pair of assists to his second-period
goal.
Steven Kelley did his part between the pipes for the Woodsmen, stopping 30 of the 34 shots he
faced, while Peoria goalie Charlie Maquet finished with 47 saves between the pipes for Peoria.
The same two teams — who have played four consecutive games against each other — will go
at it again next weekend, heading to the Tomah Ice Center in Tomah, Wis., for back-to-back
7:15 p.m. contests on Friday and Saturday.
