PREP BOYS HOCKEY: Baraboo/Portage pulls away in the third to win regular-season finale

Baraboo/Portage (7-16, 4-6 Badger North) never trailed for the second straight game, taking a 1-0 lead when Gabe Larson scored 6 minutes, 55 seconds into the first period.

DeForest’s Bryce Jacobsen tied the score at 1 just 40 seconds into the second period. Baraboo/Portage quickly took the lead back, as Cameron Logan and Joe Zemanovic assisted Josh Beale 1:37 into the period.

The T-Birds took the 2-1 lead into the third period before breaking the game open. Beale scored at 4:26, while Zemanovic scored a pair of goals — at the 5:38 mark and the 14:27 mark — to give Baraboo/Portage a 5-1 lead. DeForest’s Jack Hagen wrapped up the game with a goal in the final minute.

Goalie Christian Bault made 30 saves for DeForest (4-17, 0-9), while Baraboo/Portage’s Dane Hinz tallied 22 saves.

With the regular season wrapped up, the WIAA playoffs will start Tuesday. Baraboo/Portage is seeded seventh and will host 10th-seeded Viroqua in a regional semifinal at Pierce Park Hockey Rink in Baraboo. The T-Birds recorded an opening-round win over Sparta last season before dropping a 5-2 game at Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells/Mauston.

Baraboo/Portage 1 1 3 — 5

DeForest 0 1 1 — 2

First period: BP — G. Larson (Koseor, Logan), 6:55.

Second period: D — Jacobsen (Hagen), 0:40. BP — Beale (Zemanovic, Logan), 1:37.

Third period: BP — Beale (Rath), 4:26. BP — Zemanovic (Brown), 5:38. BP — Zemanovic (Fitzwilliams), 14:27. D — Hagen, 16:00

Saves: D (Bault) 30, BP (Hinz) 22.