ONALASKA — Coach Charlie Marshall is looking for consistency, and he thinks he is finding it from his Aquinas/Holmen/G-E-T co-op boys hockey team. He won’t know for sure until the Avalanche take the ice again Thursday in Black River Falls, but he knows he likes what he saw big Tuesday night at the OmniCenter.
Playing a rival like Onalaska/La Crosse is never easy, but Marshall’s team managed to control most facets of the game before leaving the venue with a 6-3 victory.
“We try to keep the same routine for a game like this, but we’re in the same building all year, and these guys grew up playing together,” Marshall said. “It’s pretty hard for it not to feel like a rivalry because the other team is just down the hall … literally (as both teams use the OmniCenter for home ice).”
A rollercoaster of a season and starting to settle down — in a good way — for the Avalanche (7-5), who have won three games in a row and for of their last five. They never trailed against the Hilltoppers and took control for good with two quick goals in the second period that set the tone for the rest of the night.
The teams skated to a 1-1 tie after one period, but sophomore Brody Slusser and junior Jax Hendrickson beat Onalaska/La Crosse goaltender Joshua Pogreba in the first and third minutes of the second for a 3-1 lead. Slusser scored with an assist from Jack Barth at 58 seconds, and Hendrickson converted a long blast unassisted at 2:52.
The Hilltoppers (6-8) did get within 3-2 when Liam Branson scored with assists from Logan Sauter and Grayson Andel, but they were bever again able to tie the score as the Avalanche did a good job of possessing the puck and turned it into a 30-24 advantage in shots.
“We wanted to dictate the way the game was played, and I think we did that pretty strongly through three periods,” Marshall said. “There were some mental mistakes, but we definitely played the way we wanted to play tonight.”
The challenge moving forward is to continue doing that.
The Avalanche began the season with plenty of experience that gave Marshall high hopes for what was to come. A pair of two-game losing streaks kept the teal floating around the .500 mark, but wins over rivals packaged around a victory over Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells has the co-op moving in the right direction.
“Returning eight seniors and our goaltender, I had some high expectations,” Marshall said. “I think that last few weeks we’ve shown what we’re capable of.”
The win over the Hilltoppers (6-8) proved that, but so did a 3-2 victory over Tomah/Sparta (7-4-1) in Lake Delton on Dec. 28. Tomah/Sparta beat the Avalanche 8-3 just 11 days earlier.
Slusser scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season, and Barth added to two assists with his sixth and seventh goals. Barth finished the scoring by winning the puck and scoring on an open net with 14 seconds remaining.
The consistency Marshall seeks is starting to peek through.
He said it’s being presented by senior defensemen Ian Bass and Hunter Downing and by senior Mason Kelm in the net. Newcomer Mikah Vail, a sophomore forward from G-E-T is also stringing together solid minutes for Marshall.
