Culver’s Cup offered tough competition for Eagles

During the Christmas holiday break, the Northland Pines High School boys hockey team again participated in the annual three-day Culver’s Cup Hockey Tournament in Madison, which saw the team end with a 1-2 record.
The 28-team tournament field included some of the state’s top teams, and the Eagles started with an impressive 6-0 victory over Cedarburg in their opening game December 26. Pines then lost contests to Madison Memorial (8-2) and Madison West (4-0).
“We hope to keep improving as a team, and this trip was a great opportunity for the boys to be together off the ice,” said Pines head coach Zach Otto. “We plan to attend the same tournament next year.”
The Eagles passed the puck around nicely in the opening game, where a handful of skaters found the twine in the win.
“Great way to start the tournament,” stated Otto about the Cedarburg win. “Not too often in a high school game do you see six different scorers on six total goals. It was great to see the kids find the back of the net with some really nice goals.”
Nicholas Boxrucker of the Eagles scored the only goal of the first period unassisted, and they all but put the game away with four goals in the second period.
Cooper Saari scored unassisted and Easton Otto tallied with a helper from Tyler Busha.
Michael Schmidt scored unassisted and Sam Shrock set up Jazek Jantzen to make it 5-0 Eagles after two periods.
Jantzen then returned the favor by assisting Schrock for the only goal of the third period and a 6-0 Eagles’ victory.
“(Freshman Goalie) Evrett Leslie played an amazing game in the net (35 saves),” added Otto. “He blocked several good scoring opportunities, giving our team a boost of confidence.”
Next up was the eventual tournament champion, Madison Memorial, and the Spartans went right to work, scoring five goals in the first period and three in the second on the way to an 8-2 win over the Eagles.
“I think our team was a little shocked by the pace of Madison Memorial. By the time we settled in, the game was out of reach,” commented Otto.
Leslie faced a heavy dose of shots with 57 and he stopped 49 of them.
Shrock scored for the Eagles in the first period with an assist from Cooper Saari.
The other Pines goal came when Peter Anderson cashed in on a second-period penalty shot.
Pines closed out the tournament with a 4-0 loss to Madison West.
“The team was a little more prepared for the fast pace, and Evrett played great in the net again and took us into the third period in a scoreless tie, but we gave up the four goals,” noted Otto.
Northland Pines has a 5-7 record and was set to host Hayward on Tuesday at the Dome.
The Eagles will then welcome Hayward to Eagle River for a game Saturday, Jan. 11, at 3:30 p.m.