By Jim den Hollander
Publisher/Editor
Saukhockey.info
Could the Green Bay Bobcats and Janesville Jets 18U squads be on a collision course?
There’s a long way to go but the two Wisconsin-based teams exited round robin play with three wins at the 2021 USA Hockey Tier II 18U Nationals with matching 3-0 records at the Cornerstone Ice Arena in De Pere.
The Cats finished with a 5-3 win against the Littleton (Colo.) Hawks to finish with a perfect nine points in pool play in the ‘USA’ Division.
The Jets doubled the Igloo Jaguars from New Jersey 6-3 to wrap up its third win for eight of a possible nine points – three wins, but the middle one against the Minnesota Moose coming in a shootout.
Both teams enter the round of eight and the only way they could meet each other would be in the National Championship contest.
Green Bay Bobcats 5 Littleton Hawks 2
The Bobcats made sure there wasn’t much drama in its final round robin win with three unanswered first period goals and another in the second before the Hawks finally hit the board.
Once again, goaltending played a big role for the Cats who have been outshot in each contest, this time by a whopping 36-13 margin.
Truett Wilson (’03 Fox Cities) got his turn between the pipes for the Bobcats and delivered in a big way helping the team carry a 5-1 lead out of the second period despite a 25-10 edge in shots for the Hawks.
Offensively, Dayne Deanovitch (’03 junior Fond du Lac Springs) enjoyed another solid game with a couple goals for the Cats and Grady Coppo (’03 junior De Pere) chipped in a 
goal and three assists. Tanner Newton (’03 junior De Pere) added a goal and assist, Joshua Christofferson (’03 senior Appleton United) scoring the other and Alexander Freund (’03 Neenah-Hortonville-Menasha) assisting on two.
As the top seed in the ‘USA’ Pool, the Bobcats advance to play the Minnesota Moose (1-1-1) who ranked second in the ‘Olympic’ Division Sunday at the Hilliard/Weyers Arena – one of three ice surfaces in the Cornerstone complex, at 9 a.m.
Winner of that game will advance to the first of two semi-finals at 6:15 p.m. Sunday against either the Montgomery (Md.) Blue Devils or the Orland Park (Ill.) Vikings.
Janesville Jets 6 Igloo (N.J.) Jaguars 3
Despite wins in the first two games, the Jets had not clinched a spot in the quarterfinals but two goals 51-seconds apart near the middle of the first period sent the team on its way to a division clinching victory.
Up 2-1 after a period, the Jets made sure with three unanswered middle period markers then scored on its only shot of the final 17 minutes for the win.
Boone Mathison (’02 Tomah) paced the offense with a three-goal game and added an assist while Isaac Frenette (’02 senior Chippewa Falls) put together a third big game with four helpers. Travis Slaght (’03 junior Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells) and Adam Franken (’03 junior Oregon) both picked up a goal and assist and the other goal came from Mason Manglitz (’02 senior, Onalaska) who, like Frenette, contributed in all three contests.
John Schroeder (’03 University School) went the distance in goal for the Jets who move on to play the Cheektowaga Rec Hockey Warriors Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Hilliard/Weyers Arena, also at the Cornerstone complex.
The Jets moved through its round robin matches with relatively easy victories against both the Warriors and Pittsburgh Predators while showing amazing resilience battling back from one-goal deficit and ultimately capturing a 6-5 shootout against the Minnesota Moose to grab top spot in the ‘Olympic Pool.’ The Moose finished second with a 1-1-1 record.
The Warriors, playing in the ‘USA’ Pool finished in second, grabbing a 3-0 shutout in its opener against the Littleton (Colo.) Hawks Thursday before stumbling 5-2 against the Green Bay Bobcats Friday, then wrapping up the berth with a 5-1 win against Team Ohio.
The quarterfinal winner will return to the ice for a 6:30 p.m. match against either the McKinney (Texas) North Stars or Tri-Valley (Calif.) Blue Devils for a berth in the National Championship contest to be played at 11:15 a.m. Monday.
The game saw just 37 total scots on goal, 19-18 in favor of the Jets who carried a 2-1 lead out of the first period and expanded it to 5-1 in the middle frame with three goals in the first five minutes of the period.
Two goals a little more than three minutes apart had the New Yorkers within a shot, but the Cats took over down the stretch with two insurance markers 38-seconds apart inside the final four minutes of the contest.
The Jets never led in the contest but rallied back from one-goal deficits five times to force the five-minute overtime session which settled nothing, and the five round shootout that saw Mason Manglitz (’02 senior, Onalaska) firing the lone goal. Meanwhile Ian Hedican (’02, Madison West) added five more stops to the 30 he collected during the 56-minutes played in the four earlier periods.
The Jets showed great resilience and intestinal fortitude, battling back and shrugging off a so-so first period that saw them trailing 2-1 and outshot 16-7. It was the Jets with a 12-6 and 12-8 margin through the final two frames, but the Moose grabbed control with a 5-1 advantage through the five-minute overtime frame.
Both the Moose and Jets were winners in opening day play at the tournament, so the Jets take the overall points margin in the pool with 5 of a possible six so far. But they will face a desperate Igloo Jaguars team that kept its own hopes of a playoff spot alive with a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Predators Friday.
The final nail came from Cade Janecke an ’02 senior from Monroe who also played a couple games at the end of the season with the Oregon Tradesmen of the NA3HL.
Hedican made the early saves and an early goal, although disallowed shifted momentum back in the Jets’ favor as they went on to outshoot the Preds 17-10 through the final 17 minutes.
The Bobcats hope to carry the momentum from its comeback win into its second round-robin contest in the USA Division at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Hilliard/Weyers rink against the Cheektowaga Rec Hockey team from New York.
Goaltenders John Schroeder (’03 University School) and Ian Hedican (’02 Madison West) split the work in goal, sharing a 21-save shutout as the Jets outshot the Preds by a 38-21 margin. The Jets keepers both made some impressive stops, in particular Hedican at the start of the third period as the Predators followed the game’s only intermission with some inspired play in the opening minutes looking for a goal that would vault them back into the contest.
As a junior on the RWD varsity hockey team, Slaght played in 19 games and collected nine goals and 20 points with six minutes in penalties. He was third overall in team scoring and played a big role on special teams with the RWD Cheavers.
There will be 16 teams from across the country participating in the 3A Group including the Jets and the host Green Bay Bobcats representing the host state.
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