BYHA Peewee A team qualifies for state tournament
BELOIT — While his team was enduring a seven-game slide, Beloit Youth Hockey Association Peewee A head coach Bill Donato was second-guessing himself for signing them up for a pair of extremely challenging tournaments.
Not anymore.
“I thought we had potential going into the season and we had a winning record going into those tournaments when we went on a seven-game skid,” the coach said. “We were in there with really good teams, but in hindsight I’m glad we played those games because they prepared us to play against better teams. We made some tweaks and we learned how to play against them.
“If we hadn’t played those games I’m not sure we come out on top this past weekend.”
His 12U Junior Knights punched their ticket to the WAHA Peewee State Tournament March 8 in Waupun with a pair of weekend wins. Saturday in Verona, they knocked off RWD A 7-3 and then Sunday they traveled to the Bob Suter’s Legacy 20 rink in Middleton and edged Sauk Prairie A 6-5.
“We had tied RWD 5-5 earlier in the year,” Donato said. “Saturday, we were up 5-1 Saturday at one point. It got a little closer, but we really dominated play. We outshot them 42-16 and the kids played really well that game.”
That advanced them to play Sauk Prairie, which had beaten Beloit twice during the regular season.
“They had been a thorn in our side,” Donato said. “They’re a good team. We played very well, getting up on them 4-1 early in the game. They battled back when we got in a little penalty trouble. They got within one at 6-5 with about three minutes left, but we held them off. We ended up outshooting them 38-28. The kids really came together at the right time. We got hat tricks out of Coltyn Crabtree and Dominik Dorst.”
Donato’s son Vinny plays on the team. He started playing youth hockey in Rockford, but moved to the BYHA as a Squirt three years ago.
“We’ve been really happy with the Beloit program,” the elder Donato said. “We like the culture and the atmosphere and how we were received in Beloit. It’s a friendly organization and you get some great hockey at the right price. I joined that (Squirt) coaching staff in the middle of the year and now this is my third year and second year as a head coach.”
The Junior Knights have several games before the state tournament rolls around and will compete in the BYHA’s Rumble on the Rock Invitational Feb. 14-16 at Edwards Ice Arena. On Feb. 15, Beloit will face Everest at 9 a.m. and Hayward at 1:30 p.m.
JIM FRANZ Sports Editor
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