RHS drops to 7-1 overall

STAR JOURNAL REPORT

The Rhinelander High School varsity boys hockey team lost for the first time this season Friday when the Hodags were shut out in non-conference action at Wisconsin Rapids, 2-0.

“Without senior captain Cole Spaulding and sophomore defenseman Danny Zuiker, both out due to injuries, we were a little out of sorts as a team,” said RHS head coach MJ Laggis. “We have to rise to those challenges as injuries are a part of high school hockey, and Friday night we just didn’t have it, and Rapids was better.”

All the scoring occurred in the second period with Colton Flammini tallying both even-strength goals for Rapids midway through the period.

“He is a very strong player with a very good shot,” Laggis said. “He beat us twice. We were unable to get anything going in the offensive zone and we were out of gas as a group. It was our third game in four days and we had very little rest between a conference game Thursday night at home versus Tomahawk, and then 22 hours later we played in Rapids. It was a difficult three-game week with two road games.”

Rapids outshot RHS, 32-17. Tanner Reany stopped all 17 shots to record the shutout win in net for Rapids. Seth Stafford made 30 saves in picking up the loss in goal for the Hodags.

“That is the kind of night we need out of Seth,” Laggis said. “He had a strong performance.”

RHS’s season record stands at 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the Great Northern Conference going into Tuesday’s conference road game against Lakeland Union High School.

Rapids 2, Hodags 0

Hodags         0              0              0 – 0

Rapids          0              2              0 – 2