Senior forward Reece Cordray netted a hat trick to power the Verona boys hockey team to a 5-1 win over Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells in a WIAA Division 1 regional championship on Friday, Feb. 17, at the Verona Ice Arena.
Verona (20-5) has made a run to sectionals 12 straight years. Verona senior forwards Jack Marske and Conrad Moline each had two assists.
The Wildcats will host Sauk Prairie (19-4-2) in a Division 1 sectional semifinal on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Verona Ice Arena.
“It’s definitely a little more pressure,” Cordray said. “We know every game matters in the playoffs and we can’t take any off.”
The game at first was scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 16, but a snowstorm hit and the game was postponed to Friday. That gave the Wildcats time to stew. Verona wanted to avoid an upset like eighth-seeded Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln knocking off top-seeded Eau Claire Memorial 6-4 in a regional final.
“I think we did a good job of bringing a lot of energy to start the game,” Cordray said. “We were not overlooking them despite being the higher seed. We came out and treated them like they are the best team in the state.”
Verona had a big shot advantage of 23-7 in the first period. About midway through the first period, Verona junior forward Garrison Codde pushed the puck down the left wing and took a shot on net as the defenders turned.
Senior forward Blake Herburger was crashing the net on a middle lane attack and scored on a rebound at 9 minutes, 18 seconds in the first period.
“It was hard forechecking by Garrison Codde and Charlie McGinnis,” Herburger said. “Without my linemates, I wouldn’t have gotten that. I was just crashing the net and staying hard on pucks all night. We try to mimic our game around being at the right spot at the right time and doing our part and good things will happen.”
Verona coach Joel Marshall said it was good to have a second line score because the energy of the team picked up after that.
“Straight line, he (Codde) is one of the fastest guys around,” Marshall said. “He caught them on their heels.”
Verona senior forward Charlie Scadden made it 2-0 when he netted a goal 11:07 into the first period. That score was assisted by Marske and Cordray.
The Wildcats scored three goals in the second period. Cordray scored his first goal on an assist by Moline and Marske at 3:53. Cordray scored a short-handed goal on an assist by senior Lars Brotzman to extend the Wildcats' lead to 4-0.
Cordray was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for celebrating the goal and was sent to the penalty box. The Beavers capitalized on a 5-on-3 advantage with senior Logan DeMars scoring a power-play goal at 14:42. When Cordray got out of the penalty box, he came back with a power-play goal on assists from Moline and junior defenseman David Dina to give the Wildcats a four-goal lead.
The Beavers’ had a pair of golden scoring opportunities in front of the net in the third period, but couldn’t cash in. Verona junior goaltender Blake Craven had 35 saves.
“We kind of let off the gas in the third (period),” Marshall said. “We were probably playing too passive and defensive. We just wanted to get through it and move on. We gave them more chances than we wanted to.”
The Wildcats outshot the Beavers 49-36 and scored on both of their power play opportunities.
“From here on out, we are all just focused on winning,” Cordray said. “It doesn’t matter who scores. We will all be just as happy if anybody scores or I score. Our goal is just to keep winning and surviving.”
Verona is two more wins from reaching the Division 1 state tournament for the fourth time in five years.
“We have to keep moving one game at a time and can’t get ahead of ourselves,” Herburger said. “As long as we keep working hard, good things will happen.”
