VERONA — Onalaska/La Crosse boys hockey coach Drew Kjos took his players to the award display at the Verona Ice Arena after it arrived for a WIAA Division 1 regional championship game on Friday.
He showed them evidence of 11 appearances in the state tournament and that the Wildcats won state titles in both 2014 — that one was over Onalaska — and again in 2020.
“We looked at all the banners,” Hilltoppers coach Drew Kjos said, “and I told them this is the program we’re going to take down tonight.”
Fifth-seeded Onalaska/La Crosse (24-2) then made Kjos a truth-teller by scoring twice late in the third period for a 3-1 victory over fourth-seeded Verona and berth in the sectional semifinal round.
The Hilltoppers won their 12th straight game and will meet defending Division 1 state champion Madison Edgewood (23-2) in the sectional semifinal at the Verona Ice Arena on Tuesday.
The Crusaders advanced with a 7-0 win over the Avalanche on Thursday.
The Hilltoppers broke a 1-1 tie with 1 minutes, 40 seconds left in the third period. Kjos called a timeout to get some key players a breather and expressed his desire for the team to get the puck to senior Jackson Egan sliding off the faceoff draw.
Instead the puck went to Onalaska freshman Connor Fecht, and he put it under the goaltender’s glove side. Onalaska sophomore Rylan Tomashek fed Fecht the puck for the go-ahead score. The goal was Fecht’s second of the season.
An penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct put Verona on the power play the rest of the way. The Wildcats pulled their goaltender and went to work with a 6-on-4 advantage.
Onalaska/La Crosse’s defense was up to the challenge, however, and Egan rung up a goal on Verona’s empty net with 5 seconds remaining for the final touch.
“We worked our tails off and played what I call 200-foot hockey,” Kjos said. “We worked hard in our (defensive) zone and controlled them from getting net-front presence.”
The victory allowed Kjos to check another box on his list of goals. He wanted the Hilltoppers to finish the season with a winning percentage of at least .750, win the Western Wisconsin Hockey Conference and get to a sectional semifinal.
And just as they have all season, the Hilltoppers used a big performance from Central junior Parker Tripp in the net. Tripp stopped 36 shots and allowed his only goal at 10:34 of the first period.
Onalaska junior Grayson Andel tied the game up at 1 less than five minutes later with an assist from Egan.
“Parker Tripp played one of his best games,” Kjos said. “He used his stick at the last second, was diving across the goal and just played out of his mind.”
