Chippewa Valley United didn’t have to wait long to get rid of the first-game jitters and find its comfort level.
The Chippewa Valley-Dakota team bounced back from a loss in its opener with a 6-2 win against Troy United in a non-league game Saturday at Buffalo Wild Wings Arena.
“I think we were nervous the first game,” said coach Jim Andonoff. “Now they feel a little more comfortable and as we keep going throughout the year, they’re going to feel a lot more comfortable. The things we work on in practice are going to show in the games.”
Chippewa was flying early, but didn’t get on the scoreboard until getting a pair of goals in the final 1:14 of the first period.
“We all had to bring it as a team,” said sophomore Caleb Petterson, who had a goal and two assists to help Chippewa rebound from a 6-2 loss to University Liggett School.
Ethan Stabnick opened the scoring when he knocked in the rebound off a shot by Christian Pieknik.
Petterson’s first varsity goal came with 7.7 seconds remaining in the opening period and gave Chippewa a 2-0 lead.
Petterson moved into the faceoff circle when a teammate was waved out. He won the draw and moments later found the back on the net.
“I took it right to the net and got it over (the goalie’s) shoulder, then went to the (Troy) student section,” Petterson said. “That was kind of funny. I had to make them a little quieter.”
Andonoff was impressed with Petterson’s goal.
“He jumped into the circle and made a couple moves. It was a great goal,” Andonoff said. “He’s a good kid, works real hard.”
Petterson felt that his strong showing will help him down the road.
“It’s making me real confident for next week,” he said.
Chippewa’s Nolan Young scored the only goal of the second period, assisted by Petterson.
A parade to the penalty box by Chippewa Valley in the third period gave Troy momentum and it capitalized with a pair of power-play goals in the first 4:10 of the period. Ethan Tran got the first at 2:14 with one second left in the Chippewa penalty. Quinten Corbett and Alex Lowry assisted.
Troy had a two-man advantage when Ben Dumas scored to cut the Chippewa lead to 3-2. Lowry and Michael Li had the assists.
“It’s nice when you get some momentum going on those power plays,” said Troy coach Josh Brown. “We just have to bury more, capitalize on our chances.”
Troy had two other 5-on-3s in the third period, but Chippewa killed them off.
“We had a lot of penalties — a lot of 5-on-3s — but the kids did really well and we overcame them,” Andonoff said. “It’s our second game, we’re starting to gel, but then we got a little tired and took the penalties.”
Chippewa got some insurance at 6:11 when Cam Staskowski knocked in the rebound of Petterson’s shot.
Andrew Johnson got the second assist.
Kevin Dolney got the first of his two goals on a breakaway at 9:30, assisted by Luke Butina. Dolney completed the scoring when he deflected Pieknik’s shot while Chippewa was shorthanded at 12:25.
Troy opened the season with convincing wins against Bishop Foley and Oxford, scoring a combined 16 goals.
“We had 15 goal scorers in those first two,” Brown said. “It was nice the way we were spreading the wealth, but now we have to play better systematically. You have to be able to adjust when you play teams like Chippewa that are competitive. You have to be able to bounce back a lot faster.”
Both goalies played well. Brown said that Nathan Holmes has come a long way in the last two years.
“He’s our only goalie so the momentum comes from him making those big saves,” Brown said. “Now we have to get it going back the other way for him.”
Chippewa goalie Joe Trachsel didn’t practice Friday because of illness, but was ready when called upon Saturday.
“We had him scheduled as the starter and he played a real good game for us,” Andonoff said.
Chippewa’s Nate Hall had several excellent scoring chances in the first two periods, but he was either robbed by Holmes or rang shots off the goal post.
“I told him to just keep going, the goals will come,” Andonoff said. “When the chances are coming you’re doing the right things.”
Brown hopes to get Troy back on track before its next game.
“We have one practice before we play at Farmington (on Wednesday),” Brown said. “We have to hit our systems hard and be consistent in our practices.”