By Chuck Delsman from the Lake Country Reporter

After two fairly uneventful and scoreless periods to open the game, the action picked up considerably Tuesday night in the final period when the Arrowhead hockey team hosted the Waukesha Wings.

The Wings survived by a 2-1 score in their Classic 8 Conference showdown at the Mullett Ice Center. The third period was full of action and opportunity, and Waukesha rallied from a 1-0 deficit early in the third period and scored the final two goals in the game’s last 13:50.

With the score deadlocked at 1-1, the first-place Wings won the game when high scoring sophomore forward Ian Malcolmson beat the AHS defense from close range with just 1:39 left to play.

“Our special teams needs a little work yet, but we did play our best period in the third,” said first-year coach Josh Engel. “Our D-zone coverage was good, and JJ Gerlach in the goal kept us in the game all night. It’s getting better every week. We had a couple of individual breakdowns in the final period and that got us. And that happens in hockey. But that’s an area we have to clean up.”

The loss snapped Arrowhead’s three-game winning streak. The setback dropped the Warhawks to 5-8 on the season and 2-3 in conference. AHS will host Oregon (3-6-1) on Friday.

Waukesha’s victory kept them in first place in the conference with a 4-0-1 mark. The Wings, coming off a tie with Brookfield/Catholic Memorial last week, improved to 10-3-1.

Hawks score first
Arrowhead outshot the Wings in the first two periods by a 18-12 margin but neither could find the back of the net. But all that changed just 2:44 into the final stanza.

AHS freshman forward Jaxson Carr picked up a rebound in front of the Waukesha net and scored from point-blank range to put his team on top. Another freshman, Matthew Chomniak, assisted on that goal.

Things really looked good for the Warhawks six seconds later when the Wings were hit with a penalty, giving AHS its fourth power play of the night.

But instead of taking advantage of the situation, it was Waukesha who stunned Arrowhead by scoring a shorthanded goal just 7 seconds into the AHS power play. Jacob Berry scored the goal unassisted.

Both teams wasted power play chances in the final 11 minutes before Malcolmson, the leading scorer in the Classic 8, scored for the Wings to give his team the victory.

The win marked the fourth time in the last six meetings that Waukesha has defeated the Warhawks.

AHS finished with 25 shots on goal, four more than the Wings. Gerlach turned back 19 of those shots while Waukesha goalie Adam Spano of St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy had 24 saves.

“For the most part, we need better starts,” Engel said. “We seem to come out slow game after game. Gerlach is playing well. We need to come out with a little more passion to start games.”

Scoring
Third period – 1. AHS, Jaxson Carr (Matthew Chomniak), 14:16. 2. Waukesha, Jacob Berry, 13:50. 3. Waukesha, Ian Malcolmson (Conor Parker), 1:39. Shots – AHS 25, Waukesha 21. Penalties – AHS 7, Waukesha 7