D.C. Everest claims first boys state hockey berth in dramatic fashion

WESTON - Ben Peloquin and Michael Janke are relative novices when it comes to the type of celebrations that took place Saturday night.

You would have a hard time noticing any signs of inexperience in that department.

In unison, the D.C. Everest hockey players rushed over to the student section near the north end of the Greenheck Field House and jumped as high as they could. Fists pounding the plexiglass.

Who could blame them.

Peloquin scored 5:39 into the second overtime to give DCE a dramatic 2-1 win over Stevens Point Area Senior High in a sectional championship game to head to state for the first time in program history.

The Evergreens (19-6-2) will open state quarterfinal action Thursday at the Alliant Energy Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Their opponent and the time will depend on how the seedings shake out.

"We've hung a couple banners on the wall," said Peloquin pointing to the youth hockey state championship banners on the southern wall of Greenheck. "We talked all year it means more to hang one from the rafters.

"We talked all game about working hard and getting pucks to the net. It was just going to take one bounce to make our season go the way we wanted. Luckily that was me in front of the net and I found a way to put the puck in the net."

Devastation was everywhere you looked on the other end of the ice.

SPASH had seen this horror movie before. Just a year earlier it was denied a trip to Madison by Wausau West in overtime.

To deal with those harsh emotions and have your seasons end in that manner all but ripped the hearts out of the Panthers, who had beaten DCE twice in the regular season.

"Yeah, it's definitely shock," said SPASH coach Brandon Busse of the crushing loss. "Obviously, it's pretty brutal two years in a row the same thing. I'm still in a state of shock.

"I'm proud of each and every one of the boys. We had a great year with an awesome group of guys."

Dayne Hoyord gave the impression the Panthers (21-4-0) were well on their way to Madison for the first time since 2009.

The sophomore shoveled home a rebound past Janke to put them up just 3:04 into the game.

That would turn out to be the last time SPASH would get a puck in the back of the net against the Evergreens netminder.

Carter Smigaj got the puck behind Yanke but his shot was stopped by the crossbar 2:35 into the second overtime. That pretty much summed up the night for SPASH.

"That's definitely what happens when you come across a hot 'tender in the playoffs. Hats off to Janke and the whole Everest team," Busse said. "We didn't get the bounces tonight and (Janke) played well. The pucks didn't bounce our way."

Minutes earlier Janke dropped to his knees in joy thinking the Evergreens had won on a J.J. Berdal goal. But the goal was waved off for an inadvertent whistle for offsides.

All that meant is Janke would just have to keep doing what he did all night. Namely refuse to let the puck into his net. He finished with 43 saves.

His performance came on the heels of a 46-save effort in a 3-2  double overtime win over Wausau West in the sectional semifinals.

"In games like this, I love seeing a lot of shots. I know it going to happen where we get outshot because we're playing really good teams," Janke said. "Having the constant pressure I don't get time to be lazy, really, and just stay in the groove.

 "It's surreal right now, I can't even explain the feelings. I don't think it's hit me yet. Tomorrow I'm probably going to wake up and be like, 'I can't believe it.'"

D.C. Everest  0  1  0  0  1  -  2

SPASH  1  0  0  0  0  -  1

First period: 1. SPASH, Dayne Hoyord (Trey Zagrzebski), 3:04.

Second period: 2. DCE, Ty Tretter (Ryan Begley, J.J. Berdal), 9:52.

Second overtime: 3. DCE, Ben Peloquin (), 5:39.

Saves: D.C. Everest (Michael Janke) 43; SPASH (Spencer Wierzba) 22.

Records: D.C. Everest 19-6-2; SPASH 23-4-0.