State Boys & Girls Hockey Tournament Preview
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Monday, March 2, 2015

State Boys & Girls Hockey Tournament Preview

THE TOURNAMENTS:  The 45th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Hockey State Tournament and the 14th Girls Hockey State Tournament will take place Thursday-Saturday, March 5-7, at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis. Ticket prices for the tourney are $8 per session. Middle school-aged individuals wearing their hockey team apparel will be admitted for $5 each session.

CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE AND PAIRINGS:  The single elimination boys tournament features eight teams. The girls tournament features four teams. There were 90 boys teams and 33 girls teams at the beginning of the championship tournament series this year. 

BOYS SCHEDULE: (* approximate times)

Thursday, March 5
Game-1:   Reedsburg Co-op (22-3-2) vs. Cedarburg (23-2-2) - 11 a.m.
Game-2:   Superior (11-15-1) vs. Janesville Parker/Craig (17-8-2) - 1:15 p.m.*
Game-3:   Eau Claire Memorial (19-5-3) vs. Madison Memorial (21-5-1) - 5 p.m.
Game-4:   Wausau West (20-4-3) vs. Appleton East Co-op (22-4-1) - 7:15 p.m.*

Friday, March 6
Game-5:  Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 - 5 p.m.
Game-6:  Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 - 7:15 p.m.*

Saturday, March 7
Game-7:  Championship Game - 2:15 p.m.*

GIRLS SCHEDULE:

Friday, March 6
Game-1:   Onalaska Co-op (16-6-3)  vs. University School Co-op (25-2) - 11 a.m.
Game-2: Hayward Co-op (22-4) vs. D. C. Everest Co-op (19-6-1) - 1:15 p.m.*

Saturday, March 7
Game-3:  Championship Game - 12:10 p.m.

ON THE AIR:  The finals of the boys and girls State Tournaments will be televised live on WKOW Madison, WAOW Wausau, WXOW La Crosse, WQOW Eau Claire, WYOW Eagle River, WMOW Crandon, WACY Green Bay, KBJR Duluth/Superior and WMLW Milwaukee. 

TOURNAMENTS STREAMED LIVE:  The entire boys and girls State Hockey Tournaments will be streamed live. The boys quarterfinals and semifinals, as well as the girls semifinals will be streamed live via subscription on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network. The finals will be streamed live on the State Television Network’s websites.

LAST YEAR:  Verona won its first boys hockey title by downing Onalaska 6-1 in the championship game. In the girls final, the Green Bay East/West/Southwest/ Preble/Ashwaubenon/Bay Port/De Pere/Notre Dame/ Pulaski/Seymour/West De Pere co-op won its first girls championship by defeating the Onalaska/Aquinas/ Holmen/West Salem co-op 6-5 in the tournament final.

TEAM TOURNAMENT HISTORY:  The first WIAA State boys hockey championship game was held in 1971. Superior won the first championship and has won 11 more since to give the Spartans a membership-leading 12 State titles. Madison Memorial has won eight titles, and Madison East has won four. Hudson won the first two girls titles in 2002 and 2003, and one version of River Falls co-op won championships in 2010-11. Another River Falls co-op–with one additional team–skated to the title in 2009. The D.C. Everest and Mosinee co-op program won the State crown in 2008 and 2012.

THE BOYS FIELD:  Superior qualifies for the State Tournament for a membership-leading 37th time, and for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons. The only time the Spartans have failed to qualify during that span was in 2011. They have won 12 State championships, which leads all schools. They won titles in 1971, 1972, 1974, 1981, 1982, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2003 and 2005, and have finished runner-up an additional 11 times. The Spartans edged Hudson 2-1 in the sectional final held in Superior to make their fourth straight appearance. Madison Memorial has qualified for the State Tournament for the first time since 2004 and for the 30th time in the program’s history, which trails only Superior in the number of State appearances. The Spartans have won championships in 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1998 and 2000. They finished runner-up on seven other occasions. Their return to the quarterfinals comes virtue of a 3-0 shutout over Middleton in the sectional final played in Madison. Eau Claire Memorial will appear in the tournament for the 15th time and for the eighth time in the last nine years, only missing the tournament during that span in 2009. The Old Abes won their two State championships in 2008 and 2013. This season, they defeated Hayward 5-1 in the sectional final to advance to the State quarterfinals.  Wausau West will be appearing in the State Tournament for the sixth consecutive year and for the 15th time overall. The Warriors played in three consecutive tournament finals from 2010-12, winning the championship in 2011 and finishing runners-up in 2010 and 2012. The first of their three runner-up finishes came in 2000. They defeated Antigo 7-2 in the Stevens Point Sectional final to earn another trip to Madison. The Janesville Parker/Craig Co-op returns to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2008 and for the fourth time overall. The other two previous appearances came in 1994 and 2005. The Bluebirds lost in the semifinals in their first two previous appearances and in the quarterfinals in 2008. They rolled to a 7-2 win over the Kettle Moraine Co-op in the first of two sectional finals hosted by Whitefish Bay. The Appleton East Co-op makes its second State Tournament appearance. The United advanced to the  semifinals before being eliminated from title contention in its first tournament berth in 2008. The advance to the quarterfinals this season was made reality with a 3-1 triumph over Bay Port in the sectional final held in Green Bay. Cedarburg will also be experiencing the State Tournament for the second time. The Bulldogs outlasted University School 2-1 in two overtimes in the final of the second sectional final hosted by Whitefish Bay. It’s the first-ever appearance for the Reedsburg Co-op. It advances to the quarterfinals through the Onalaska Sectional with a 4-0 blanking of Baraboo/Portage in the final.

THE GIRLS FIELD: An expanded co-op consisting of Onalaska/Aquinas/Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/ Holmen/La Crosse Central/Logan/West Salem advances to the State quarterfinals for the first time. The co-op, with a different combination of schools have qualified nine other times. This version of the co-op advances to the State semifinal following a 3-1 victory over Sun Prairie Co-op in the final of the sectional it hosted. As a stand-alone program or with different versions of the co-op, Onalaska has finished runner-up five times, including last season. The D.C. Everest/Mosinee/ Wausau East/Wausau West co-op, formerly identified as the Mosinee co-op with the same schools, returns to State for the eighth straight season and for the eighth time overall. The Storm have won two State titles, one in 2008 and the other in 2012. They also finished runner-up in 2011. The Storm defeated Northland Pines 5-0 in the sectional final hosted by D.C. Everest to return to  the tournament field. The Hayward/Ashland/ Northwestern/Rice Lake/Shell Lake/Spooner co-op has qualified for the State Tournament for the first time in its present form. In previous configurations, the co-op has qualified twice, which resulted in a State title in 2013 and a loss in the semifinals in 2012. This version of the Hurricanes earned their trip to Madison with a 2-0 shutout over the River Falls co-op in the Hudson Sectional final. Also making its first State appearance in its current version of the co-op is University School/Divine Savior Holy Angels/Nicolet/Shorewood /Whitefish Bay. The co-op in a previous arrangement advanced and was ousted in the semifinals in 2013. The Wildcats skated to a 3-0 win over the Green Bay East Co-op in the sectional final to continue their quest for a State championship. 

FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Boys and Girls Hockey Tournaments on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaawihky. Also follow daily recaps on Facebook.

NEED RESULTS?:  The quickest way to get State hockey results will be to access the WIAA website and navigate to the respective hockey homepage and select the Tournament Information option located in the left column. 

#  WIAA  #

Compiled by WIAA Communications

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