For Wausau Pilot & Review
WAUSAU – The Wausau Cyclones junior hockey team took on the West Bend Power last weekend and split a pair of NA3HL games at Marathon Park.
Wausau won 6-2 on Friday and lost 5-2 on Saturday to move its season record to 32-10-0-1. The series split keeps the Cyclones tied for first-place with West Bend. Just four games remain in the regular season to decide the Central Division title.
Friday night’s contest started off a bit slow for the Clones as West Bend got on the board first with a goal from Connor O’Neal at 9:24 of the first period. Wausau answered back at 15:20 with a goal from Anderson Brien. The Cyclones took the lead at 18:47 as Easton Plachetka netted his eighth of the season.
The second period saw the Cyclones extend their lead with a pair of goals from Connor Dvorak to go ahead 4-1. The final period saw Wausau finish the game of strong with goals from Christian McKinley and Anderson Brien to solidify a big win. Collin Lemanski was solid in net after stopping 24 of 26 shots.
Saturday night would prove to be a different story as West Bend controlled most of the game. The Power got out to a 1-0 lead after the first period and extended the lead at 2:09 of the second after O’Neal netted his 15th of the season.
Wausau’s Dvorak made it a one goal game a couple minutes later with his 25th on the season, which was assisted by Matthew Mahoney and Ricky Nelson. West Bend would answer right back a couple minutes later to take a 3-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
Wausau would make things interesting as Dylan Chapman got one home at 5:36 of the third but West Bend added a couple of late third-period goals, including an empty net goal to seal a 5-2 win.
Lemanski took the loss after stopping 22 of 26 shots.
The Cyclones will hit the road this weekend as they visit Tomah on Friday and West Bend on Saturday night. Wausau will return home for Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday, March 2. The first 250 fans will receive a Cyclones Scarf presented by Kolbe Windows & Doors. Visit wausaucyclones.com for tickets.
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.
