Fox Cities Stars boys hockey scores twice in second period to squeeze past rival Appleton United

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – In what was a matchup of two teams trending in opposite directions, the Fox Cities Stars (4-5) and Appleton United (0-7) faced off for their annual meeting on the ice.

With this being the Cancer Awareness game for Appleton, an already intense atmosphere was kicked up a notch as the rivals had a ton to play for.

It was the second period that saw most of the action as all three of the goals were scored in that period and they came just over five minutes apart. In the end, it was the power-play goal from Ryan Ostermann that proved to be the difference as Fox Cities took down its rival Appleton United 2-1 in a Badgerland Conference boys hockey game Thursday at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

“Appleton and Fox Cities is always going to be a battle,” Stars head coach Owen Stauber said. “It was great to see all the fans come out to support both of our programs. I was really proud of our team’s effort tonight. Appleton always gives us a battle and tonight was no different. We were just able to come away with a victory.”

One of the big reasons why scoring was at a premium in this game was the play of Elliot Reichenbacher and Brandon Tobak in net as the duo combined to stop 51 of the 54 shots they faced. The United’s Tobak had to do the most work as he turned away 31 of the 33 shots he faced, with the Stars’ Reichenbacher coming away with 20 saves in the game. Despite no goals being scored in the first period, there were plenty of opportunities and most of them came from the power play as Fox Cities had difficulty staying out of the penalty box.

Credit Reichenbacher and the Stars’ defense for keeping things close as they limited Appleton United to just three shots on four power play attempts with only one coming as a quality look. Stauber felt the play of Reichenbacher over those first 17 minutes really set the tone for what was to come.

“Reichenbacher was tested tonight, but continued to come up big for us in net,” he said. “Whenever we needed him the most, he stepped up and he is a huge reason why we were able to win this game.”

With the game scoreless entering the second period, you had a sense that someone was going to crack, especially with both teams desperate for a win. Like in the first, penalties continued to be an issue for the Stars as Logan Clavijo was sent to the penalty box with a two-minute minor for tripping. Less than 20 seconds after that penalty was called, Appleton United connected with their first and only goal of the game as Kenny Kapheim took the Landon Larson assist off of the faceoff and put it through the five-hole of Reichenbacher to give United the 1-0 lead.

That goal seemed to awaken the Stars, and for whatever reason, they came out with a different mindset to close out the second period. Just past the midway point in the second, Will Cote tied things up 1-1 as he was left alone in front of the goal and put it near post. Cale Adamovich and Braylon Jansen were credited with the assists on the play, but it was the pass from Adamovich that was the key, going between his legs to find Cote alone in the faceoff circle. Following that goal, it was Appleton that shot itself in the foot with Larson being sent to the penalty box for an interference call.

Power-play goals were the theme of the night for both sides and with this being just the second power opportunity for the Stars, they were looking to capitalize. Leave it to Ostermann to do the cleaning up as he fought for a loose puck in front of the net and put it past Tobak for the 2-1 lead. Little did anyone know that would be the final goal of the game as the teams moved to third.

Hoping to close things out down the stretch, the Stars didn’t make it easy on themselves as they were assessed another penalty just over a minute into the third before being handed a second one a few minutes later. Even with United outshooting the Stars in that third period, the play of Reichenbacher in goal was the biggest difference as he came away with several big saves down the stretch to preserve the win.

“This was a very fun and exciting game for both sides, but we came up short,” United head coach Matt Hughes said. “Any time you get both of our teams on the ice, you know it will be a battle and tonight was no different. Credit to their goalie over there. He had some great saves down the stretch to keep the lead and that proved to be the difference.”

Appleton United (0-8, 0-4 Badgerland Conference) is back in action Friday against Ashwaubenon, with a game at the Appleton Family Ice Center starting at 5:20 p.m. The Stars (4-6, 1-2 Badgerland) host West Bend for a nonconference game Saturday at Tri-County Ice Arena in Neenah at 7:15 p.m.

Stars 2, United 1
Fox Cities   0   2   0   –   2
Appleton   0   1   0   –   1
Second period: 1. A, Kenny Kapheim (Landon Larson), pp., 6:50; 2. FC, Will Cote (Cale Adamovich, Braylon Jansen), 9:27; 3. FC, Ryan Ostermann (Kale Berendsen, Mason Lautenschlager), pp., 11:54.
Saves: FC, Elliot Reichenbacher 20; A, Brandon Tobak 31.
Records: Fox Cities 4-6, 1-2 Badgerland Conference; Appleton 0-8, 0-4 Badgerland Conference.