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Carly Kleiman

In a night highlighted by Coaches vs. Cancer, Homestead battled and fell to University School of Milwaukee by a score of 4-0.

Only two players were on the scoring chart last night as Ben Hrabak, USM senior, scored the first two goals, in the first and the second period, and Nick Epperson, USM sophomore, scored both times in the third period.

Adam Hobbs, senior, was sent to the penalty box after being called for head contact in the fourth minute of the first period.  Going on the powerplay, Hrabak was able to break through Homestead’s short-handed defense and score the first goal of the game with 12:25 remaining in the first.

With 3:40 left in the first, Homestead went on the powerplay as a USM player was penalized for tripping.  Unable to take advantage of the short-handed USM squad, Homestead closed out the first period down 1-0.

“One main problem we faced was we couldn’t finish the small opportunities which ended up adding up in the long run,” David Hathaway, senior, said.

USM was penalized three times in the second half.  At the 16:07 mark, Tommy Ferrara, USM junior, was penalized for head contact, at 14:03 USM was down a man as it had too many on the ice and with 4:10 remaining in the second Jake Kandel, USM senior, went to the box after an interference penalty.

Throughout the first 19 minutes in the second, both teams were dead-even as neither could buy a goal; however, with 42 seconds remaining, Hrabak scored his second, and last, goal of the game.

With its back against the wall, Homestead faced an uphill battle in the third period. Homestead put up a brick wall for most of the third period, as no goals were scored. However, after going on the offensive attack with around four minutes left, Homestead turned the puck over and Epperson pounced on the opportunity and scored a fast break goal on Homestead’s scrambling defense.

After another USM penalty, Homestead pulled Hathaway in order to outnumber USM’s depleted defense.  Unfortunately, USM was able to score a shorthanded empty net goal against the Highlanders with 2:39 remaining in the game. “The team played hard and physical, we just need to start putting the puck in the net,” Adam Hobbs, senior, said.

That would prove to be the final dagger for Homestead as it ended the game with a final score of 4-0.  Homestead is 1-3-1 against USM in the past four years.

The bright side of the night centered on the fundraising efforts. With the help of the fans, Homestead was able to raise money for Relay for Life. The theme for the game was orange to represent Leukemia. Both teams were involved in the fundraising as Homestead was all orange and USM tied in orange to its theme.

There were multiple opportunities to donate during the game with a donation box at the ticket booth, an 87 second bucket pass to represent how often a resident in Wisconsin is diagnosed with cancer and the opportunity to purchase a Coaches vs. Cancer shirt throughout the game.

“It was a really successful night. The combination of the bucket pass and selling the T-shirts raised us over $1,000, which is great,” Brock Pasternak, senior Relay for Life co-chair, said.

Homestead (11-6) plays again on Friday against Bay Port (13-4) at The Cornerstone Community Center.  Relay for Life will take place on February 21 and 22 in the Homestead field house.

Shots on goal: Homestead, 36; USM, 27.

Scorers: Ben Hrabak, USM, 2; Nick Epperson, USM, 2.