For Wausau Pilot & Review
WAUSAU – The Wausau Cyclones junior hockey team squared off with the St. Louis Jr. Blues over the weekend with a sweep at Marathon Park. Wausau won 5-4 on Friday night and won going away 6-1 on Saturday evening.
On Friday night, Wausau scored first at 17:59 of the first period when Ricky Nelson netted his 14th goal of the season. The goal was assisted by Gabe Randel and Easton Plachetka. St. Louis answered back one minute into the second as Connor Westbrock scored his sixth of the season.
Cyclones forward Adam Wiggins gave Wausau the lead back on a spin cycle goal just 3:18 later. After another goal by St. Louis to tie the game at 2-2, Chase Chapman tallied his sixth of the season past St. Louis goalie Mason Brooks. The Jr. Blues fought back again and eventually took a 4-3 lead heading into the third period after a goal from St. Louis forward Jacob Heuerman with just 26 seconds remaining in the second period.
Wausau found itself in a situation that they have not had much success at all this season. Coming into play Friday, the Cyclones were 2-21-1-0 when trailing after two periods. Friday night would prove different as the Cyclones relied on a familiar name in forward Gage Vierzba. Vierba netted the game-tying goal at 3:05 and then the game-winner at 12:55 to give Wausau a much needed 5-4 win. Goalie Collin Lemanski picked up the win in net for Wausau after stopping 30 of 34 shots.
Saturday night’s game would be a different story as Wausau dominated St. Louis from the first period on. In the first, Wausau got goals from Evan Drus and Ricky Nelson to give the Cyclones a 2-0 lead after one. The second period saw more dominance as Adam Wiggins, Gabe Randel and Zac Maupin all joined in on the offensive fun. The third saw each team net one goal to make it a final score of 6-1 good guys. Ryan Burke earned the win after stopping 22 of 23 shots.
The Cyclones are back at home this coming weekend with two outstanding promotions – $2 beer night presented by Budweiser on Feb. 3 and the Wiener Dog Races presented by SC Swiderski on Feb. 4. Puck drops at 7:10 p.m. both nights. Visit wausaucyclones.com for tickets. Stay connected during the season by following the Cyclones @wausaucyclones on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and online at wausaucyclones.com. Subscribe to the Cyclones podcast “Inside Cyclones Hockey”, available on your favorite podcast network.
The Cyclones are members of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL), one of three USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior leagues, serves as one of the top training grounds in the country by providing the best coaching, exposure and developmental vehicles available for student-athletes in its classification. The primary mission of the NA3HL is to provide a structured developmental environment for student-athletes who have aspirations of playing in the NAHL or United States Hockey League and eventually the NCAA or American College Hockey Association. For more information, visit wausaucyclones.com.
