MIDDLETON, Wis. — New Richmond’s hopes of a second consecutive state hockey title evaporated in two minutes.

Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs scored three goals in the decisive span midway through the second period en route to a 6-2 victory over top-ranked New Richmond in the Division 2 title game of the Wisconsin boys state hockey tournament Saturday morning.

“Give St. Mary’s Springs a lot of credit, they played well today,” said New Richmond coach John Larson. “Obviously some momentum changes in the second period … wasn’t one of our days. It just wasn’t clicking. Didn’t get a lot of bounces and just kind of battling back.

Springs snapped a 1-1 tie when the Tigers turned it over on a power play in their own end. Austin Westergaard converted the shorthanded opportunity, punching it in lower left past goalie Ryan McGillis at 8:17.

The Ledgers jumped on another turnover to make it 3-1 when Quinn McLaughlin brought it up the left side on a 2-on-none break and found Gabe Braun wide open out front at 9:53.

Isaac Sabel capped the blitz 31 seconds later with an unassisted goal from the top of the left circle that went in top right.

New Richmond’s hopes of a third-period comeback were dashed when Armani Fisher’s power-play goal put the Ledgers up 5-1 just over three minutes into the period.

“Hockey is momentum swings and we scored so fast, and it’s also tough to come back,” Springs coach Kevin Collien said. “When you get that extra goal, it’s not secured, but you know it’s going to be tough for them to come back.”

Brody Jackson scored for the Tigers with just under three minutes remaining, but Westergaard countered immediately for Springs with an empty-net goal.

Top-seeded New Richmond, ranked No.1 in Division 2 in the state coaches poll, was making its sixth state tournament appearance. The Tigers (17-10-2) won their only title last season with a 5-1 win over Oregon in the final.

The second-seeded Ledgers (20-9) won their third title in five years; they also won in 2020 and 2021 and were runners-up in 2022.

New Richmond outshot Springs 43-26, but Brendan Gaertig turned in 41 saves for the Ledgers. McGillis had 20 saves for New Richmond.

The Ledgers capitalized on an early penalty for a power-play goal in the fourth minute of the opening period. The Tigers failed to clear their own end, setting up Will Stellmacher’s shot from the top of the slot.

The Tigers came away empty midway through the period when Gaertig turned away Catcher Langeness with a spectacular save on a shorthanded breakaway.

New Richmond, which outshot Springs 16-11 in the first period, tied it on a goal by Bjorn Bahneman at 12:12. The Tigers won the faceoff in the left circle, passed to Steven Chapman behind the net, and he found Bahneman wide open in front of the crease.

“Three years ago, we were 10-15, just to scrap and fight in the playoffs,” Larson said. “I think the bar has been raised. Our numbers have been continuing to grow in our program, obviously a lot of excitement and things about New Richmond hockey.

“I think you look at the last two years at what we’ve built and the hard work from the kids and the entire community, it’s certainly special.”

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