#8 CHippewa Falls Upsets #1 SPaSH

WIAA BOYS HOCKEY

UPSET ALERT coming from Northern Wisconsin. With the WIAA boys hockey playoffs having already started we have seen some close games but no upsets. #8 Chippewa Falls traveled to #1 SPASH (Stevens Point Area Senior High) and faced off in the Regional final matchup. SPASH was coming into this game undefeated with an impressive record of 24-0.  Chippewa Falls came in 0-1 during this already facing SPASH once in the regular season losing 8-0. Teams with an undefeated record are not supposed to lose in this situation facing against a #8 seed but miracles do happen. SPASH outshot Chippewa 49-21 throughout the night. Freshman Goalie Andrew Brovold had an amazing game ending up with a .909 Save %. Both teams had equal penalties so that wasn’t the reason SPASH lost. Forward Jackon Lemay seems to have been the major factor; he scored 23 points in the regular season and now he has 2 points on the best team in Division 1 hockey.  It was a heartbreak of a loss for such a good team, they played well all season but there could have been factors within the team that brought them to underlook Chippewa Falls. With that being said #8 Chippewa Falls travels to #5 Eau Claire Memorial. Chippewa Falls is 0-1-1 against Eau Claire Memorial in the regular season so it will be a good game. If I was Chippewa Falls I would be game planning to shut down Old Abes star Forwards Mack Diggins and Gabe Pankratz. Both of those players are weapons with a toal of 112 points combining from regular season and playoffs. Old Abes has a 81% penalty kill so they would need to capitalize on that. And for the Old Abes I would bombard Andrew Brovold, I would make the most out of the chances you get and I would get in the way of his vision. Chippewa Falls may never get back to where they were last year making it to the State Tournament but they will certainly put up a fight and it has shown that if you play hard and with grit you can beat any team. It will be a good matchup to watch and be at.