POWER SHINE BRIGHT ON OPENING NIGHT, TAKE DOWN TRADESMEN
Cole Fesnke and Andrew Bulter combined to scored four of West Bend’s goals in their 9-1 victory.
West Bend, WI – The West Bend Power surged out of the gates on opening night Saturday against the Oregon Tradesmen with a 9-1 victory. Gavin Wohlmacher stopped 41 of 42 shots on goal. Oregon’s starting netminder Tyler Fromolz was pulled at 1:23 in the second period with
rookie goaltender Sam Pollard being sent in relief. The two stopped a combined 23 of 32 shots for the Tradesmen.
The packed stands at the Kettle Moraine Ice Center didn’t have to wait long for the first sign of offense from West Bend. Cole Fenske scored the first of his two goals on the night at 1:27 in the first period, courtesy of Teagan Scheurer. Oregon scored their only goal of the game at 8:28, coming from Tyler Steuck with helpers from Easton Simpson and Jace Weber. The Power went to their first man advantage of the night after the Tradesmen’s Andrew Catalano was called for holding at 12:47. West Bend cycled well on the power play but couldn’t covert. The tie was shattered with two goals within a minute of one another at the end of the frame by the Power. Fesnke returned the favor for Scheurer’s goal at 16:27. 55 seconds later, Bryce Garber tallied the fourth West Bend goal assisted by Zach Wolverton and Captain Connor O’Neal.
The second period started off much in the same way the first did, with an early Power goal by O’Neal from Andrew Butler at 1:27. Fromolz was then substituted out of the Tradesmen goal for Pollard immediately following. After a scrum 3:48 mark left West Bend a man up, Butler saved a potential shorthanded goal, albeit by taking a holding penalty, to stop the sharp angle shot. The first period repeated itself again for the Power, this time with a late goal. Butler converted on a wide-open net at 13:58 after some beautiful passing from O’Neal and Garber. Weber took a
tripping penalty for the visitors that did not add to the slew of scoring for the Power.
In the third period, Oregon took a too many men penalty at 2:45 resulting in another special teams opportunity for West Bend. The Power delivered on Fesnke’s second goal of the night at 3:47, served up by Butler and Garber. Butler then notched his second marker of the contest from Wolverton at 5:59. Garber received a high sticking call at 8:21, but the reduced number of skaters had the opposite effect on the offense. Rocco Cicirello scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 10:21, sprung forward by Tommy Kundinger and Owen Amon. The Tradesmen allowed the Power one last man advantage when Steuck slashed Wohlmacher’s stick out of his blocker at 11:56. With time winding down of the power play, Kundinger struck pay dirt from Odin Klebba and Garber to round out the scoring.
The Palermo’s Screamin Sicilian Three Stars of the Game were Connor O’Neal, Andrew Butler and Gavin Wohlmacher. The Versi-foam Hard Hat Player of the game went to Cole Fenske and the Kundinger Fuild Power Player of the Week is Gavin Wohlmacher.
The West Bend Power continue their homestead on Sept. 22 and Sept. 23 where they host the Peoria Mustangs for the first time this season. Both games start 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 on www.nahltv.com.
