*Photo Contributed by Juan Carlos Wood – @photosbyjcw on Instagram
This past weekend, the Wisconsin Windigo’s win streak of five consecutive games came to an end, as the visiting Anchorage Wolverines won both meetings between the two sides.
Friday, Dec. 12
Final Score: Windigo 4, Wolverines 5
In the opening matchup of the series, the Windigo fell in a back-and-forth battle that featured nine total goals. Just one minute after the Wolverines tallied the first goal of the game, Wisconsin winger Brendan Finley fired a shot off the rush that went bar-down to level the score at one apiece. The two sides were knotted at 1-1 before Anchorage scored their second goal with just over four minutes remaining in the period, giving the Wolverines a 2-1 lead after one.
The Windigo started strong in the second period when Finley fired a shot that was redirected by blueliner Devin Berg to tie the score at 2-2. Berg’s tally was his first point of the season against his former team, as he appeared in six games with the Wolverines before he was acquired by the Windigo. After his goal, the Wolverines scored two more times before the end of the period, giving them a 4-2 lead headed into the final 20 minutes.
Despite the Wolverines striking first in the third period, the Windigo put their resilience on full display with a goal just 19 seconds later. Wisconsin forward Aidan Hickok let a shot fly from distance to score his third goal with the team and fourth on the season. With 40 seconds left, winger Max Bennett brought the Windigo within one with his first goal of the season. Through his first four games with the team, he has three points. Even though the Windigo would put a few shot attempts on goal in the final seconds of the game, their comeback effort would fall short in the 5-4 loss.
In goal, Windigo netminder Easton Cody received a loss for the first time since Nov. 15, when Wisconsin and Anchorage faced off in their first series. In his effort Friday, he turned aside 25 of 30 shots on goal.
Sunday, Dec. 14
Final Score: Windigo 3, Wolverines 6
After a day of rest Saturday, the Windigo struggled in the early stages of the game and fell by three goals. Across the first 44 minutes of the game, the Wolverines scored six consecutive goals, which included two goals with a man advantage and one while shorthanded. Anchorage scored three of their six goals in the second period.
Despite facing a glaring deficit, the Windigo never dropped their heads in defeat, as they would go on to score three goals in the final 12 minutes of the game. Wisconsin’s first goal was scored by Windigo center Josh Sardo, who found the back of the net on a power play. On the goal, Windigo blueliner Michael Ryan picked up his second assist of the series before he would go on to score from distance minutes later. The goal was Ryan’s seventh of the season and he was assisted by center Alexios Georgaklis, who would finish the series with three assists in total. For the final goal of the night, Sardo scored once again for his second power-play twine finder of the game. In his last six games, Sardo has four multi-point performances to raise his season total to 12 points.
In the loss, Windigo netminder Andrew Saxe made his team debut between the pipes. He made eight appearances for the Wolverines earlier in the season, giving him a shot at revenge against his former team. Through 31 minutes, he made 11 saves. Midway through the second period, however, Saxe suffered an unfortunate lower-body injury and exited the game. Cody stepped in for the remaining 29 minutes and made 21 of 23 save attempts.
Standings
Following the weekend slate, the Windigo now have a 16-11-1 overall record through 28 games this season. They rank fourth among the eight teams in the NAHL Midwest Division, and are just two points shy of reclaiming second place. With the pair of wins, Anchorage moved up to fifth in the division and currently have a 13-10-3 record.
Windigo Stats
In the recent series, Windigo winger Teddy Richardson continued to add to his impressive offensive campaign with one assist in each game. With the pair of helpers, he leads the team with 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists) through 25 games. Georgaklis is second on the team with 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) and Ryan rounds out the top three with 26 tallies (seven goals, 19 assists). Finley and Sardo used their big weekends to climb to 18 and 12 points, respectively. In net, Cody continues to lead the team with a 7-6-0 record, a 3.47 GAA and a .901 save percentage through 14 appearances this year.
Up Next
The Wisconsin Windigo will host their second consecutive series, with this upcoming weekend’s showdown against the division-leading Minnesota Wilderness. The two sides will clash Friday, Dec. 19 at 7:25 PM CST before the pre-holiday series wraps up Saturday, Dec. 20 at 7:15 PM CST.
Tickets for each game can be purchased from the team’s website and can also be accessed using this link. If you can’t be there in person, all Windigo home and away games can be streamed on NATV. Visit nahltv.com for more details.
