ONALASKA — The fifth-seeded Onalaska/La Crosse boys hockey team had little trouble qualifying for a WIAA Division 1 regional championship game on Tuesday night.
The Hilltoppers (23-2) were on top of their game offensively and defensively while decimating 12th-seeded South Central — based in DeForest — 12-0 in a regional semifinal at the OmniCenter.
The victory — the team’s first in the postseason since 2020 — means Onalaska/La Crosse will play at fourth-seeded Verona (14-10) on Feb. 19. That game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Verona Ice Arena.
The Hilltoppers scored four goals in the first period, five in the second and outshot the Navigators by a 41-15 margin. Central junior Parker Tripp stopped all 15 of those shots to give his team its fourth shutout in five games.
Onalaska/La Crosse has now allowed six goals over its past nine games and has 10 shutouts this season.
Central junior Liam Branson had three goals and one assist, and Onalaska junior Grayson Andel two goals and two assists for the Hilltoppers.
Central senior Logan Sauter scored one goal and assisted on five, and Onalaska seniors Jackson Egan and Carter Johnson each had three assists.
Branson has 27 goals this season and Sauter 22 assists.
Central sophomore Korbin Neher and Onalaska sophomore Rylan Tomashek also scored two goals each for Onalaska/La Crosse, which will try to win its first regional championship in six years on Thursday.
Hudson Smith and Noah Witcik also scored a goal each for the Hilltoppers, who have won 11 straight games and outscored opponents 65-11 during that stretch.
Avalanche 2, Madison West 0
MADISON — The ninth-seeded Holmen/Aquinas co-op (13-11-1) beat the eighth-seeded Regents (7-14-3) at the Madison Ice Arena.
Up next in Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. regional final is defending Division 1 state champion and top-seeded Madison Edgewood (22-2). The game will be part of a doubleheader at the Verona Ice Arena.
G-E-T junior Mikah Vail scored with assists from Luke Boberg and Trevor Ehrat in the first period.
Vail scored again in the third, this time assists from Ehrat and Jack Eckelberg.
The goals are Vail’s 12th and 13th of the season, and Ehrat’s two assists give him seven.
“The boys played the best hockey they have played all year,” Avalanche coach Charlie Marshall said. “I think being the 9 seed behind some teams with less wins really motivated us tonight, led by some great performances from our defense and goaltender with the shutout.”
Holmen junior Dane Adams made 27 saves in the shutout, which is his second of the season.
