SPASH shuts down Wausau West in WVC opener

WAUSAU - Time after time Thursday, Wausau West sent a shot in on Phil Trzebiatowski.

The Stevens Point Area Senior High senior goalie answered the challenge with his best performance of the early season.

Trzebiatowski stopped 42 of the 43 shots he faced, including 20 in the third period as the No. 9 Panthers downed top-ranked Wausau West 4-1 at Marathon Park.

Cole Caufield had a hat trick, including an open-net goal with 13.7 seconds left to seal the win in the Wisconsin Valley Conference opener for both programs.

“I try and prepare the same for every game, whether it’s the No. 1 team in the state or not,” Trzebiatowski said. “I just go out and try and play at my best.”

SPASH improved to 4-0 with the win, while the Warriors dropped to 2-1. Jacob Warnke had 18 saves for West.

Caufield also had a breakaway goal roughly seven minutes into the third period to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead. The sophomore forward grabbed the loose puck at the Panthers’ blue line, raced up the middle of the ice and beat Warnke with a shot over his left shoulder.

“This is huge,” Caufield said of the win. “To get some early momentum like this is really going to help us down the road.”

Josh Bohlin scored 16 seconds after the breakaway goal to snap Trzebiatowski’s shutout bid. Trzebiatowsksi was at his sharpest in the third period as the Warriors had 20 shots on net in the third period.

“He’s a senior goalie and we knew tonight was going to be a big game for him,” SPASH coach Brandon Busse said. “I thought he was well-prepared (for the game) and he stepped up.”

West coach Brian Brandt said while his team put a lot of shots on net, he felt there were few solid scoring opportunities for the Warriors. He credited that to Trzebiatowski as well as his teammates in front of him.

“To be honest, (SPASH) did a good job at taking away quality chances,” Brandt said. “A lot of those shots were from the perimeter and were pucks that (Trzebiatowski) saw a lot of the times. “

The Panthers scored a late goal in both the first and second periods to take control of the game. The first goal came with roughly two and a half minutes left in the first period and was set up as Barrett Brooks intercepted an errant pass in the West zone and Caufield converted on the opportunity.

Dayne Hoyord gave SPASH a 2-0 lead with less than four minutes left in the second period as the Warriors could not get the puck out of their zone.

“Turnovers are what killed us tonight,” Brandt said. “We turned the puck over a lot (tonight) and turned it over in moments that you can’t turn it over on. Credit (SPASH) for taking advantage of those turnovers, and No. 8 (Caufield) is a special player for them and he was able to find the puck in the spots we didn’t want him to find them in a few times.”

First period: 1. SP, Cole Caufield (Barrrett Brooks, Dayne Hoyord), 15:33.

Second period: 2. SP, Hoyord (Caufield), 13:08.

Third period: 3: SP, Caufield, 6:58. 4, WW, Josh Bohlin (Christian Bardarson, Cade Lemmer), 7:14. 5. SP, Caufield, 16:47 (en)

Saves: SP, Phil Trzebiatowski 10-13-19-42; WW, Jacob Warnke 10-6-2-18.

Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @timmyjo11