DE PERE — In a highly emotional sectional showdown between two local rivals, the De Pere Voyageurs (18-4-1) delivered early and never looked back, defeating the Bay Area Storm (10-12-1) 4-1 on Tuesday night to advance further into the postseason.
From the opening puck drop, the intensity matched the moment.
“You know, coming into a game at this magnitude, especially two big local teams, you know you're going to get a physical game, you know it's going to be fast, you know it's going to be high emotional,” De Pere head coach JP Coppo said. “So you got to prepare for all those factors.”
De Pere wasted little time seizing control.
With 14:11 left in the first period, senior Landon Smith got the Voyageurs on the board, finishing a setup from Kade Koszarek to ignite the home crowd. Just over two minutes later, at the 11:56 mark, Griffin Wehausen found the net off another assist from Koszarek, giving De Pere a quick 2-0 lead.
The Voyageurs kept their foot on the gas. At 10:36 in the opening frame, captain William Birkholz buried De Pere’s third goal off an assist from Reid Sands, capping a dominant first period and forcing the Storm to play from behind.
“Honestly it was just sticking to the game plan and not losing our heads in this big game,” Birkholz said of the team’s mindset.
The early surge proved critical in what quickly became a physical battle. After the third goal, the Storm began to lean into their physical style, delivering multiple hard hits on the Voyageurs.
“They challenged us. They were physical with us,” Coppo said. “After we got the third goal, they started really pounding down on us, and our defensemen felt that really well. They hung in there.”
De Pere answered again in the second period. With 14:44 remaining, Wyatt Williams extended the lead to 4-0 off an assist from Michael VanHelden, giving the Voyageurs breathing room in a game that still felt tense in front of a sold out crowd.
The Storm finally broke through at 3:42 of the second period when Brody Hronek scored, assisted by Ryan Leahy, cutting the deficit to 4-1 and injecting life into their bench.
From there, the third period turned into a defensive grind.
De Pere goaltender Chase VandEven delivered a gritty performance between the pipes. As the Storm tried to claw back into the game, VandEven stood tall in net, rejecting shot after shot and keeping De Pere in control.
Coppo acknowledged that goaltending played a major role in sealing the result.
“We knew it was going to come down to a nitty-gritty type of game with goaltending included,” Coppo said. “Our guys hung in there.”
While the Storm continued to battle, De Pere’s defense didn’t waive during the final period. The Voyageurs focused on staying disciplined and not getting pulled into the emotional swings of postseason hockey.
“Just coming out hard,” Birkholz said when asked about the key to the victory. “The big thing was scoring first and we were able to do that tonight so that's why we brought it home.”
The early scoring allowed De Pere to dictate tempo rather than chase it, something Coppo emphasized as critical against a well-coached Storm squad loaded with talent from programs across Northeast Wisconsin.
With the sectional win secured, the Voyageurs now turn their attention to Neenah in the next playoff round.
“Well, we know we have Neenah,” Coppo said. “Our mindset’s almost the same. Last time we saw them, it was a good, heavy game. We were a little dead-legged in that game, so we’ve got to make sure that we're ready to go with our legs and got to make sure that we're on it mentally.”
With this win, the Voyageurs advance to the sectional final later this week against Neenah, with a chance to punch their ticket to the WIAA State Boys Hockey Tournament.
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