Local influence strong for Kenosha hockey team

By Jason Arndt

Staff Writer

Five Kenosha County schools – one goal – to win a Classic-8 Conference boys hockey title.

The Kenosha Thunder, a team consisting of four Westosha Central and three Wilmot Union High School athletes, has already taken the WIAA and conference by storm with a 6-1 record.

The Thunder, which return second-team all-conference Nick Elsen of Kenosha Indian Trail, opened the season with four straight wins, including three in at the Kyle J. Nuerohr Memorial Holiday hockey tournament in Sheboygan.

Elsen, a junior, scored 18 goals and contributed 19 assists last year.

J.R. Litkey, Thunder coach, hopes the team can continue the winning trend, and has one goal in mind.

“I think we have good shot at winning or at least contending for a conference title,” Litkey said. “I would also hope to make it out of our section and on to Madison.”

Kenosha, which also contains players from Tremper and Bradford, is in the same conference as Hartland Arrowhead, Brookfield/Catholic Memorial, Greendale, Kettle Moraine/Mukwonago, Marquette University High School and Waukesha Co-Op.

Waukesha, known as the Wings, won last year’s conference title with a 5-1-1 record (16-6-1 overall). The Thunder finished 1-4-2 (11-10-2) for eighth place.

However, with a stellar start to the season, the Thunder has bucked the trend, courtesy of contributions from some Westosha Central and Wilmot athletes.

Westosha Central, which entered into the co-op agreement last year, features sophomore defenseman Chase Erickson, senior defenseman Chris Hill, junior forward Matthew Perona and forward Kyle Kuhfuss.

Wilmot entered the agreement two years ago, and brings junior forward Hobey Horak, junior forward Cody Faber and sophomore forward Christian Stoller.

Returning letter-winners from both schools are Perona, Horak and Erickson. New to the squad are Faber and Hill.

The seven total players have meshed well with their Kenosha Unified School District counterparts, Litkey said.

“For the most part, it isn’t an issue,” Litkey said. “Most of the kids have grown up playing youth hockey together.”

At the Sheboygan Holiday Tournament, the Thunder defeated Waupun (5-0), Brookfield/Catholic Memorial (7-5) and Fox Cities (3-2).

In the Nov. 27 shutout against Waupun, Faber played a key role, scoring three of Kenosha’s goals.

The following night against Brookfield/Catholic Memorial, Hill from Westosha Central broke the game open, netting a goal to give Kenosha 7-4 lead.

“Both (Hill and Faber) are fitting in really well,” Litkey said. “Both get a regular shift and are key pieces to the puzzle that we were missing in the past.”

“With the addition of these two, it gives us three full lines of forwards and four really good defensemen,” he added.

Erickson capped off the Holiday Tournament, co-assisting an Elsen goal to give the Thunder a 3-2 lead.

Erickson’s potential gives the Thunder plenty of hope the next two years.

“Chase is a solid defenseman that we look forward to seeing what he can do in the future,” Litkey said. “He sees quite a bit of ice time.”

Kenosha 7, Waukesha 3

      In the Dec. 4 home-opener held at the Kenosha IcePlex, the Thunder defeated Waukesha 7-3. The Thunder scored early goals to take a 3-0 lead, with Cam Kroncke sparking the rally with a power-play goal, assisted by Anthony Svoboda and Peyton Phillips.

Svoboda followed up with two goals of his own, both assisted by Kroncke, before Waukesha trimmed the deficit to 3-2 entering the second period.

After Kroncke’s second goal of the game, Waukesha answered with their own to close out the second period.

However, Kenosha broke the game open in the final frame, with Svoboda’s third goal, assisted by Brett DeLaat. Joey Trifone added two goals, assisted by Phillips and Jackson Jones, respectively.

Greendale 4, Kenosha 3

Kenosha jumped out ahead 3-0 at Greendale’s Wilson Park Recreation Center Dec. 5, but could not hold on for the victory, when they allowed four straight goals.

Svoboda scored the first goal, assisted by DeLaat and Erickson to cap off the first period.

The Thunder added two more on a goal by Kroncke (Svoboda, Phillips) and Maegaard (Faber, Erickson).

The Ice Force bounced back, scoring on goals by Bailey Beierle (Brandon Peterson), Jeff Schultz (Nate McComb), Matt Berther (Schultz, Beierle) and Jakob Schappel (Berther).

Kenosha 6, Brookfield 1

Kenosha bounced back from its loss to Greendale with a 6-1 win at Brookfield Dec. 11, with a goal from six different players, Elsen, Maegaard, DeLaat, Erickson, Trifone and Hill.

Kenosha 3, Fox Cities 2

The Thunder needed extra time to win its sixth game of the season with an overtime goal by DeLaat, assisted by Wilmot’s Faber.

The Thunder trailed 2-1 until an unassisted goal by Elsen in the third period.

Kenosha received a goal by Svoboda, assisted by Kroncke, to take an early 1-0 lead.

However, Fox Cities responded with back-to-back goals, with a goal from Zachary Bishop, assisted by Noah Krueger and Hunter Schwehr, and Boyd Dietzer, assisted by Schwehr and Krueger.


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