POWER BUCK THE MUSTANGS, SWEEP THE WEEKEND SERIES
Resilience to Peoria’s intensity, plus the goaltending tandem of Gavin Wohlmacher and Brooks Barofsky led West Bend to a pair of wins.
West Bend, WI – The West Bend Power swept their first weekend series of the season against the against the Peoria Mustangs with wins of 4-2 on Friday, and 6-1 Saturday.
Friday night started out slow for the Power, being outshot 19-7 by the Mustangs in a scoreless first period. West Bend came roaring back in the second period with Odin Klebba’s two tallies, the first of which came on the power play at 3:58. The second goal came at 18:58, igniting a scrum in front of the Peoria net. The outcome saw Klebba being ejected for removing his helmet during the chaos, while leaving the Power with a power play due to an extra roughing call on the Mustang’s Sam Truxaw. A bench minor at the horn added to the man advantage, resulting in over 90 seconds of 5 on 3 time for West Bend to start the third period. Captain Connor O’Neal capitalized on the extra special team’s opportunity for the Power at 0:31, extending the lead to 3-0. Peoria partially bridged the gap to 3-2 with two strikes at 11:34 and 16:20. However, a fortuitous bounce for West Bend went the length of the ice into an empty net for a 4-2 final. Gavin Wohlmacher saved 28 of 30 shots on goal while Peoria netminder Mason West stopped 26 of 29, not including the empty net goal.
The Palermo’s Screamin’ Sicilian three stars of the game for Friday were Andrew Butler at No. 3, O’Neal at No. 2, and Klebba at No. 1. The Versi-Foam hard hat hardest worker of the game was awarded to Teagan Scheurer.
Goaltender Brooks Barofsky made his NA3HL debut Saturday night, securing his first career win saving 20 of 21 shots on goal. The game itself however, elevated West Bend’s physicality – and offense – to new levels. Owen Drake struck early for the Power at 6:19 in the first off a rebound.
in front of Peoria goaltender Travis Visvadra. Scheurer scored at 10:12 after Visvadra’s initial save rolled behind him into the net.
After Peoria’s Colin Cash scored at 0:48 into the second, the things started to heat up. At 6:01 Mustang right wing Paul Allison was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding the Power’s Liam Fraser. Peoria’s ensuing aggressive penalty kill gave West Bend few chances on their first major power play. O”Neal scored for the second time in as many nights, this time on the doorstep of Visvadra increasing the advantage to 3-1. An added bonus was the aftermath, when Peoria’s Ronnie Turano was whistled for cross checking O’Neal in the head during his goal celebration, contributing to the growing number of penalty minutes for the Mustangs. The Power pressured well but couldn’t penetrate the defenses of Visvadra to end the second period.
West Bend’s kept their scoring seamless in the third period, despite more adversity. Peoria forward Cash boarded Zach Wolverton at 6:06 and was slowly assisted to the bench after several tense moments. Cash’s ejection gifted the Power their second major power play of the contest.
This five-minute opportunity was effective for West Bend, as rookie Brady Moore scored his first NA3HL goal at 8:37, lengthening the lead to 4-1 Scheurer got in on the offense with his second goal of the evening at 12:08 to make the tilt further slanted at 5-1. The injury scares continued
for the Power when Cole Fenske received a two-handed slash to the shins by Anden Marceau.
The officials issued Marceau a minor for slashing and an additional 10-minute misconduct. Thankfully, Fenske retuned a few shifts later and appeared to be ok. Riley Planey was also the victim of a hit to the head, when Mason Buchanan of the Mustangs left his feet on a check, not
ruled a penalty, leaving him a little shaken up. Rocco Cicirello put an exclamation point on the weekend with the sixth and final tally Saturday. The two assists were thefirst career NA3HL points for rookies Lucca Weinkauf and Toby Kerr.
The Palermo’s Screamin’ Sicilian three stars of the game for Saturday were Owen Drake at No. 3, Scheurer at No. 2, and Barofsky at No. 1. The Versi-Foam hard hat hardest worker of the game was awarded to defenseman Nate Cohen.
The Kundinger Power Players of the weekend are Teagan Scheurer and Tommy Kundinger.
The West Bend Power continue their homestead on Sept. 29 and Sept. 30 where they host the defending Fraser Cup Champion Fraser Cup Champions for Military Appreciation Weekend. All active military and veterans will be admitted free both nights. Puck drop is at 7:30pm CST at the Kettle Moraine Ice Center where Frank Zawrazky starts the pregame show at 7:15pm. All games this season are streaming onwww.nahltv.com.
