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Bluebirds advance to sectional

JANESVILLE — Control the puck in the first and last two minutes of every period. It’s an unwritten rule hockey teams live by.

The Janesville Bluebirds could see they were doing something right when they found themselves up 1-0 against Kenosha Bradford/Tremper just 55 seconds into a 7-0 victory in a WIAA regional title game here Thursday night at the Janesville Ice Skating Center.

“They didn’t start their first group against our first group,” said Janesville coach John Mauermann. “All of a sudden, they backed into the zone and gave us the shot.

“I give Ross (Mauermann) credit for hitting the net. He came down and had a nice shot.”

The Bluebirds advance to face Catholic Memorial/Pius XI in the semifinals of Oconomowoc Sectional on Tuesday at Waukesha.

Ross Mauermann’s goal, his first of two on the night, was a low-flying slap shot from the blue line off of a feed from Derek Mussey.

“We haven’t scored the first goal in a long time, and that really got us going right off the bat,” said Mussey, who finished with two assists. “We were able to work a lot of things that we can do against better teams.”

Then, at 11:03, Janesville’s second line capitalized on a breakaway to put the Bluebirds up 2-0. Aaron Jacobson passed up ice to Grant Jahns on a give-and-go. Jacobson took the pass in front of the net and swept to his left to put it past Kenosha’s Nic Wise.

“We haven’t had a lot of time playing together this year as the entire team,” coach Mauermann said. “You have to have a second line that’s a threat, and they’re a threat now because they have some experience together.”

Jahns finished the night with two goals and an assist. Zach Bayreuther had two goals, while Jacobson finished with a goal and an assist.

“It comes down to a skill game,” coach Mauermann said. “We have some skill kids who can move the puck.

“Sometimes it’s frustrating because we set up our skill guys for some easy opportunities and we missed them, but we have enough talent to compete, and that’s one of the things you’re concerned about. Now we have to finish our opportunities.”

David Jacobson, who finished with four shutouts in the regular season, blanked the Thunder on 13 shots. The Janesville defense held Kenosha to just two shots in the third period.

“A goaltender is always looking at the clock and it can never run fast enough when you have a zero on the board,” coach Mauermann said.

The Bluebirds pounded Wise with 29 shots, including double-digit totals in the second and third periods.

“We knew we had to take this first step and keep going,” David Jacobson said. “We just wanted to move the puck and spread the ice out. We have a lot of speed, and we wanted to use it.”

JANESVILLE 7, KENOSHA 0

Kenosha 0 0 0—0

Janesville 2 2 3—7

First Period

J—Mauermann (Mussey), 0:55. J—Jacobson (Jahns), 11:03.

Second Period

J—Mauermann (Lemirande), 3:53. J—Bayreuther (Mauermann, Lemirande), 4:40.

Third Period

J—Jahns (Jacobson), 6:06. J—Bayreuther (Mussey), 8:36.

J—Jahns (Valentine), 15:01.

Saves—Wise (K) 22, Jacobson (J) 13. Penalties—Kenosha 6 (12 minutes), Janesville 5 (10 minutes).