By Jim den Hollander
Editor/Publisher
Saukhockey.info
The RWD Peewee ‘A’ Cheavers wrapped up what it hopes is the first of two banners, claiming the championship in its Ultimate Tournaments Dairyland Classic Division over the President’s Day weekend.
The Cheavers kicked off the tournament Friday (Feb. 18) afternoon with a 4-0 win against the Waconia (MN) Wildcats at Lake Delton Ice Arena returned with an early morning 1-1 draw against a familiar opponent, the Waunakee Wildcats at Reedsburg Area Community Arena (RACA).
On Sunday morning, the Cheavers wrapped up division play and earned a spot in the championship game with a 3-1 against the Chicago Hawks also at RACA
Later Sunday, the Cheavers returned to Lake Delton to face the Waunakee crew again, claiming the banner with a 3-2 win.
RWD Cheavers 4 Waconia Wildcats 0
Two goals in the first and another pair in the second sent the Cheavers to a win in its opening contest.
Three goals came from Landen Uminski and Teaghen Geffert notched the other. Ethan Wilcox and Dayne Wagner each collected an assist and Jesse Arnold recorded his second shutout of the season in goal for the Cheavers.
RWD Cheavers 1 Waunakee Wildcats 1
A tight defensive battle against a Wildcats team the Cheavers have run into a few times this season saw teams battling to a draw.
Braxton McGuigan put the Wildcats up with the lone goal of the first period, but Uminski equalized the score in the second from Wilcox and Tyler Krieski early in the second.
From there it was the goaltenders taking charge, Arnold wrapping up with 10 saves while the Cheavers tested the Wildcats’ keeper with 25 shots.
RWD Cheavers 3 Chicago Hawks 1
The Cheavers clinched a spot in the championship game with a win Sunday morning in Reedsburg.
Wilcox fired the first goal of the game, late in the first period from Wagner and Krieski and Wagner converted a feed from Uminski early in the second with what turned into the game winner.
The Hawks pulled one back late in the middle period, but Krieski restored the two-goal margin in the final period with help from Wilcox.
Arnold stopped eight shots to pick up the win while the Cheavers peppered the Hawks’ goaltender with 27 shots.
RWD Cheavers 3 Waunakee Wildcats 2
The final brought a rematch with the Wildcats, and they engaged in another close battle Sunday afternoon.
Teams were tied in the standings, but the Wildcats got the nod as the home team based on goal differential through the preliminary contests.
That didn’t matter to the Cheavers who played even through the opening frame, opened a 2-1 edge in the second and widened the gap early in the third.
Uminski’s unassisted goal opened the scoring, and it was Wilcox with another unassisted goal in the second to put the Cheavers up 2-1.
Another Wilcox goal in the final period, from Andrew Stando widened the gap and turned into the game winner when the Wildcats pulled one back later in the period.
Arnold kicked out another dozen while the Cheavers fired 33 at the Waunakee goal.
Three wins and a tie boosted the Cheavers’ overall record to 27-16-2 and they will be looking for another tournament title attending an event in Green Bay this weekend.
That will leave one more weekend of play before the team heads to the WAHA Peewee 3A State Championship in Somerset. More information on that event will be on these pages in the days ahead.
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